NetApp Inc at Raymond James TMT and Consumer Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : So I'd like to sort of start off in order to -- maybe you've got some investors who are interested, but new to the story. So how do you like to introduce NetApp to a prospective new investor?

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : Great. And I want to sort of split it up, I definitely want to get to sort of the AI discussion. But I want (inaudible) to get to kind of the foundational aspect of the business, which is selling to enterprises. So I feel like we've gone through the last couple of years (inaudible) kind of the supply chain dynamics from the pandemic with worry about macro recession, slowing enterprise. So what's your take on sort of core enterprise demand?

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : So some of the other companies we follow selling into federal vertical have said, but our federal business is mostly DoD and DoD is not getting cut. So we're going to be fine, don't worry about it. Others have said, well, if you're exposed to agencies like Department of Education, you're going to feel it, what's sort of maybe double-click the mix of your federal exposure?

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : (inaudible) supply chain and memory chips. And maybe as a first step, educate maybe somebody who's new to the story, you've got different types of memory. There's DRAM. There's HBM and there's NAND. NAND presumably is the important one for you guys. But maybe give folks a little bit of education and let's talk about why this is important to you guys.

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : And I guess one of the challenges for the investment community is. I think we're bombarded with headlines about spot prices on memory. And by much on the spot market. So how does the company manage the supply chain? And I'd say in puree, gross margins were actually pretty good this quarter. People thought they were going to be terrible. What is sort of the operational aspect that allows you to sort of not pay these spot prices.

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : So what can you tell us about these 200 design wins? Are there common themes? Or are they 200 completely different projects, what's sort of the nature of the customers and the applications?

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : And then about a year ago, you give you the impression that I have some bias on that think it's probably the interesting debate. We'll get more clarity over the course of next year is my hope.

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : And then about a year ago, you guys announced a platform called the AFX, which I think inserted you more strongly into these AI discussions. Maybe help people understand what is it about the platform that was an evolution and what makes it more relevant to AI use cases.

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : Well, believe it or not, our time is pretty much flown by. I'd like to close with the following. What do you think is either the least appreciated or most misunderstood aspect of the NetApp story.

Question: Simon Leopold - Raymond James & Associates, Inc. - Analyst : Well, great. Garrett, thanks for joining us, folks. Thanks for joining us. This is our session with NetApp. Thanks a lot.