Feb 27 (Reuters) - NetApp ( NTAP ) lowered its revenue

and profit forecast for fiscal year 2025 on Wednesday, hurt by

sluggish demand for its data storage services as businesses pull

back spending.

The shares of the San Jose, California-based company fell

13% in extended trading.

Businesses have kept a tight leash on spending amid rising

macroeconomic uncertainty and inflation, impacting demand for

data storage products after a pandemic-driven boom.

Companies are not yet ready to expand capacity for small

model training and inferencing for enterprise application

(Enterprise AI), as the process is still in early stages and is

not expected to help with incremental demand until 2026,

according to analysts at brokerage Susquehanna.

The company now expects 2025 adjusted earnings per share

between $7.17 and $7.27, compared with its prior forecast of

$7.20 to $7.40.

It also lowered its revenue forecast to between $6.49

billion and $6.64 billion, compared with prior expectations of

$6.54 billion to $6.74 billion.

NetApp ( NTAP ) helps businesses improve efficiency of their data

storage infrastructure and counts companies such Amazon.com's ( AMZN )

Amazon Web Services, Alphabet's Google Cloud

and Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Azure as clients.

The company posted third-quarter revenue of $1.64 billion,

compared with analysts' estimates of $1.69 billion according to

data compiled by LSEG.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported per share

earnings of $1.91, in line with estimates.