# How Seagate Technology (STX) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/stx
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on STX alone. It places STX (Seagate Technology Holdings plc) against 17 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where STX stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: STX's full trading record, from December 2002 through September 2026. The crash tests reach back to 2000 using older funds and the S&P 500. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** STX is 38.2% below its high, bear-market territory, while the S&P 500 sits 1.3% below a record. STX has gone against the market, falling 15.8% over the past 3 months while the S&P 500 rose 3.9%.
- **Stock or market?:** The weakness is STX's own: it fell 15.8% over the past 3 months while the computer hardware ETF VGT (Vanguard Information Technology ETF) rose 6.3%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its computer hardware peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: DELL (Dell Technologies) rose 21.3%, while WDC (Western Digital) fell 25.2%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, STX rose 217% against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (975% against 89.3%).
- **Long term:** STX turned $10,000 into $280,000 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. STX's 10-year return of 2,698% puts it ahead of 99% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** STX fell harder than the S&P 500 in five of six sell-offs. The Covid crash was the exception: STX fell 25.6%, less than the S&P 500's 33.7%.
- **Diversification:** Against the S&P 500, STX has a correlation of 0.58 over 5 years, more closely than 87% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Next to an index fund it is some diversification, but not a hedge. Over 10 years, STX's beta versus the S&P 500 was 1.58: in the S&P 500's rising months it gained 1.7 times as much as the index, and in falling months it lost 88% as much.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** MU (Micron Technology) was ahead of STX in most short and long periods.
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only one of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than STX with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them ATI.

## How much would $10,000 in STX have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in STX over the past 23 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of STX over the same span and STX's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in STX at the end of September 2003 would have grown to $713,300 by September 2026, more than the $116,093 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of STX, and NVDA finished highest, at $18,839,668.

## STX at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- STX is still 38.2% below its all-time high.
- STX's deepest decline since it began trading in 2002 was 88.7%, from November 2007 to January 2009. It took about three years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 23 full calendar years, STX's best was 2009, when it returned 313%, and its worst was 2008, when it lost 82.0%. It lost money in seven of those years.

- Type: Stock, Technology (Computer Hardware)
- Trading since: December 11, 2002
- Market value: $154B
- Volatility (5 years): 48.7%; Sharpe ratio: 1.18
- Worst decline ever: −88.7%, from November 2, 2007 to January 23, 2009; back at its high by February 7, 2012

| Period | STX total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −23.0% |
| 3 months | −15.8% |
| 6 months | +25.3% |
| year to date | +136% |
| 1 year | +217% |
| 3 years | +975% |
| 5 years | +866% |
| 10 years | +2,698% |

## STX against the whole market

Where STX ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does STX rank among all stocks?

This section ranks STX on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- STX's 5-year return ranks in the top 1% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million with 5 years of history.

| Measure | STX | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +217% | 30 of 3,287 (top 1%) |
| 3-year return | +975% | 31 of 3,017 (top 2%) |
| 5-year return | +866% | 22 of 2,893 (top 1%) |
| 10-year return | +2,698% | 24 of 2,202 (top 2%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 48.7% | 1,868 of 2,893 (top 65%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 1.18 | 27 of 2,893 (top 1%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −57.0% | 760 of 2,187 (top 35%) |

### What has beaten STX on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- One stock worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than STX over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is fewer than 1% of the 3,633 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half STX's swings, ATI has the best return for its risk: 61.8% a year at 42.9% volatility, 12% less than STX's 48.7%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.34 against 1.18 for STX.

### Is there a better investment than STX?

The table below lists investments that beat STX over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among STX's popular alternatives, MU was ahead of STX in most short and long periods.
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only one of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than STX with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them ATI.

The 1 strongest of 1 investments that beat STX over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with STX | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| STX: Seagate Technology Holdings plc (this page) |  | +57.4% | 48.7% | 1.18 | −57.0% | +2,698% |  |  |
| ATI: ATI Inc. | Metals & Mining | +61.8% | 42.9% | 1.34 | −82.4% | +929% | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility |

## STX against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against STX, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do STX's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 16 popular alternatives earned more than STX over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- Over the past 5 years, STX returned 57.4% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (48.7% against 17.1%).

### Has STX consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares STX with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- MU outperformed STX in every long-term period and in all but one short-term period, the most consistent record in the group.
- Only one of the 17 popular alternatives, MU, outperformed STX in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of STX | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| STX: Seagate Technology Holdings plc (this page) | +217% | +975% | +866% | +2,698% |  |  | 1.18 |
| [MU](https://easycompare.io/research/mu): Micron Technology, Inc. | +334% | +1,246% | +1,244% | +5,243% | 5/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 1.20 |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | +217% | +636% | +800% | +3,701% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 1.08 |
| [WDC](https://easycompare.io/research/wdc): Western Digital Corporation | +200% | +1,030% | +759% | +911% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 1.07 |
| [MRVL](https://easycompare.io/research/mrvl): Marvell Technology, Inc. | +181% | +390% | +264% | +1,874% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.72 |
| [SNDK](https://easycompare.io/research/sndk): Sandisk Corporation | +822% | — | — | — | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | +3.8% | +66.6% | +80.3% | +946% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| [NTAP](https://easycompare.io/research/ntap): NetApp, Inc. | +81.9% | +198% | +159% | +691% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.71 |
| SIMO: Silicon Motion Technology Corporation | +125% | +320% | +243% | +494% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.71 |
| [HPE](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe): Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | +150% | +296% | +315% | +483% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.89 |
| QMCO: Quantum Corporation | +83.5% | +86.2% | −83.4% | −85.8% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.42 |
| [AVGO](https://easycompare.io/research/avgo): Broadcom Inc. | −3.5% | +305% | +617% | +2,380% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 1.11 |
| SMCI: Super Micro Computer, Inc. | −41.0% | +30.6% | +817% | +1,383% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.94 |
| [GOOG](https://easycompare.io/research/goog): Alphabet Inc. | +31.2% | +148% | +138% | +752% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.71 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | +21.3% | +110% | +53.8% | +548% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.42 |
| VIAV: Viavi Solutions Inc. | +164% | +359% | +127% | +376% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.58 |
| [IBM](https://easycompare.io/research/ibm): International Business Machines Corporation | −12.5% | +93.5% | +116% | +151% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.66 |
| NTCT: NetScout Systems, Inc. | +46.1% | +72.8% | +40.5% | +32.8% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.37 |

### How did STX do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2003, along with where STX ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, STX finished in the top quarter in seven of 23 years and in the bottom quarter in three. In 2025, it ranked 3 of 17.
- STX finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 14 of its 23 full calendar years.
- Among its popular alternatives, DELL came out ahead of STX most often, in six of the nine years both traded.

| Year | STX | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +225% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +4.1% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +69.1% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −51.4% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +87.5% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +10.2% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +62.1% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −2.9% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +13.4% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +13.4% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How STX has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were STX's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of STX's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: STX fell 70.0% from December 2014 to May 2016, while the S&P 500 rose 2.0%.
- The slowest recovery came after STX fell 65.8% from October 2003 to August 2004; it did not regain that peak until November 2007, three years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −88.7% | November 2, 2007 | January 23, 2009 | February 7, 2012 | −43.4% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −70.0% | December 24, 2014 | May 11, 2016 | March 8, 2018 | +2.0% | 2015 China and oil sell-off |
| −65.8% | October 14, 2003 | August 13, 2004 | November 2, 2007 | +3.0% |  |
| −57.0% | January 4, 2022 | November 3, 2022 | June 17, 2024 | −21.4% | 2022 bear market |
| −41.5% | June 22, 2026 | October 16, 2026 | not yet | +2.8% |  |

### How did STX do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far STX, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- STX fell further than the S&P 500 in seven of the nine crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2015 China and oil sell-off, when STX fell 48.9% and the S&P 500 fell 12.8%.
- Among its popular alternatives, AVGO held up best, falling less than STX in seven of the eight crashes they both traded through.
- STX began trading after the dot-com bust, but nine of its popular alternatives lived through it. The mildest fall among them was IBM's 58.3%, against 47.5% for the S&P 500.

| Crash | Dates | STX fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | not trading | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −88.7% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −0.5% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −34.8% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −48.9% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −8.4% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −25.4% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −25.6% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −54.0% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −5.2% | −3.4% |

### How closely does STX move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- Over the past 10 years, STX captured 169% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 88% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.58. Its share of the market's gains was larger than its share of the losses.
- Only DELL had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than STX's 1.93, out of 16 popular alternatives with the same record.
- DELL took just 43% of the S&P 500's losses, against 88% for STX, while still keeping 154% of its gains.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| STX: Seagate Technology Holdings plc (this page) | 169% | 88.0% | 1.58 |
| [MU](https://easycompare.io/research/mu): Micron Technology, Inc. | 204% | 114% | 1.75 |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | 154% | 43.0% | 1.13 |
| [WDC](https://easycompare.io/research/wdc): Western Digital Corporation | 171% | 163% | 1.87 |
| [MRVL](https://easycompare.io/research/mrvl): Marvell Technology, Inc. | 167% | 116% | 1.68 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | 127% | 91.0% | 0.96 |
| [NTAP](https://easycompare.io/research/ntap): NetApp, Inc. | 147% | 147% | 1.38 |
| SIMO: Silicon Motion Technology Corporation | 126% | 116% | 1.41 |
| [HPE](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe): Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | 116% | 102% | 1.31 |
| QMCO: Quantum Corporation | 95.0% | 267% | 2.65 |
| [AVGO](https://easycompare.io/research/avgo): Broadcom Inc. | 158% | 86.0% | 1.19 |
| SMCI: Super Micro Computer, Inc. | 189% | 168% | 1.74 |
| [GOOG](https://easycompare.io/research/goog): Alphabet Inc. | 132% | 110% | 1.12 |
| [AMZN](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn): Amazon.com, Inc. | 134% | 139% | 1.31 |
| VIAV: Viavi Solutions Inc. | 98.0% | 76.0% | 0.97 |
| [IBM](https://easycompare.io/research/ibm): International Business Machines Corporation | 89.0% | 121% | 0.95 |
| NTCT: NetScout Systems, Inc. | 60.0% | 97.0% | 0.71 |

### What diversifies STX?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in STX into MPC would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years for a small cut in its annual return (+66.7% for STX alone, +66.6% for the mix).
- FIX made money in six of the seven calendar years in which STX lost money.
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of STX over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.24 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with STX | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in STX's 7 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.22 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 1 of 7 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.24 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 2 of 7 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.20 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 1 of 7 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.21 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 1 of 7 |
| FTLS: First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF | 0.49 | +62.9% | 10.4% | 0.99 | 1 of 7 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.45 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 1 of 7 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.18 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 3 of 7 |
| [XLE](https://easycompare.io/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | -0.01 | +177% | 25.5% | 0.93 | 4 of 7 |

## Common questions

### What was STX's worst drawdown?

STX's deepest decline since it began trading in 2002 was 88.7%, from November 2007 to January 2009. It took about three years from the low to climb back to its old high. Because STX launched in December 2002, that record does not include the dot-com bust.

### What were STX's best and worst years?

Over 23 full calendar years, STX's best year was 2009, when it returned 313%. Its worst was 2008, with a return of -82.0%.

### Is there a better investment than STX?

Among STX's popular alternatives, MU was ahead of STX in most short and long periods. Few investments have done better on both counts: only one of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than STX with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them ATI.

### Is STX more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. STX's volatility over the past 5 years was 48.7%, 2.8 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, STX's return lands within 48.7% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is STX's Sharpe ratio?

STX's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 1.18, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so STX earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is STX with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, STX's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.58 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against STX instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a STX holding.

### What are the best alternatives to STX?

Of the 17 popular alternatives we compared, one outperformed STX in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: MU.

### Did STX outperform the S&P 500?

STX finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 14 of 23 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +225%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did STX do in stock market crashes?

STX fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in two of the nine major crashes it has traded through, and further in seven. The clearest case was the 2015 China and oil sell-off, when STX fell 48.9% and the S&P 500 fell 12.8%.

### What diversifies STX?

These had a low correlation with STX over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.22), DXJ (correlation 0.24) and EMLP (correlation 0.20); among large stocks, CAH (correlation -0.00), CLS (correlation 0.45) and FIX (correlation 0.49). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Micron Technology (MU) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/mu)
- [Dell Technologies (DELL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/dell)
- [Western Digital (WDC) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/wdc)
- [Marvell Technology (MRVL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/mrvl)
- [Sandisk (SNDK) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/sndk)
- [Microsoft (MSFT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/msft)
- [NetApp (NTAP) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/ntap)
- [Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe)
- [Broadcom (AVGO) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/avgo)
- [Alphabet (GOOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/goog)
- [Amazon.com (AMZN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn)
- [International Business Machines (IBM) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/ibm)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/stx
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against STX live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=STX&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research