Why NetApp (NTAP) Stock Is Down Today

What Happened?

Shares of data storage company NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) fell 7.9% in the morning session after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock's rating to 'Underweight' from 'Equal-weight' and significantly cut its price target. 

The firm reduced its price forecast for NetApp to $89 from $117. The downgrade reflected the view that Wall Street's estimates for the company were too high. Morgan Stanley pointed to reduced enterprise budgets for storage hardware and rising memory costs as key factors. These trends were expected to lead to a slowdown in revenue and a contraction in margins for NetApp in its 2027 fiscal year.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

NetApp’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 7 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 10 months ago when the stock dropped 5.7% on the news that stocks gave back some of the gains from the previous day as the White House clarified the tariffs on imports from China would add up to 145%, while the baseline 10% tariffs remained in place for most countries. 

This added layer of uncertainty reminded investors that the global trade environment remained volatile, limiting the potential for sustained market gains. Also President Trump said he was willing to accept pain in the short term, and was aware his policies could cause a recession, but he remained more mindful of a more severe case of economic depression (higher unemployment and prolonged downturn). For investors, this suggested that the administration could prioritize long-term structural shifts over near-term economic stability, further increasing policy-driven risk in the markets.

NetApp is down 10.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $95.41 per share, it is trading 24.5% below its 52-week high of $126.36 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of NetApp’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,479.

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