Pure Storage is proving that in the AI era, owning the data conversation is as crucial as owning the data itself. Their latest earnings report, showcasing a 16% revenue jump, isn’t just about storage, it’s a validation of their strategy to become the linchpin for enterprises navigating the complexities of AI-driven data management.
The company’s Q3 2026 revenue hit $964.5 million, exceeding expectations and driving operating profit to a record $196.2 million. But beyond the numbers, the results signal a shift in how businesses perceive data, as Pure aims to be the “data trust broker” for enterprise AI deployments, a strategy that diginomica has been closely following.
The acceleration of Pure’s Enterprise Data Cloud platform is a key indicator of this success. The number of customers deploying Pure Fusion, their intelligent control plane for policy-driven data management, has more than tripled since the beginning of the year.
CTO Rob Lee highlights the core problem Pure aims to solve: “Most enterprises… the bottleneck is actually just figuring out where their data sits.” The Enterprise Data Cloud addresses this with a unified control plane, offering visibility across the entire data estate, regardless of location. This now includes Pure Storage Cloud for Azure, launched this quarter.
“Data must be architected to stand on its own, self-describing, stateless, and managed globally. The Enterprise Data Cloud makes this possible,” says CEO Charlie Giancarlo.
This approach is clearly resonating, as subscription services revenue reached $429.7 million, up 14% year-over-year and representing 45% of total revenue. Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) grew 17% to $1.8 billion, with remaining performance obligations jumping 24% to $2.9 billion.
Pure has also exceeded its full-year forecast in the hyperscale market, shipping over two exabytes in Q3. This success validates their DirectFlash technology, offering a compelling alternative to traditional storage solutions burdened by cost and power constraints.
Giancarlo emphasizes consistency and simplification: “We provide them a single solution from a software perspective that doesn’t require them to modify their operating systems.” This unified approach is a powerful incentive for hyperscalers seeking to streamline their infrastructure.
However, CFO Tarek Robbiati hinted at potential changes in the hyperscale business model, saying Pure is “exploring new and different revenue models with hyperscalers” that could impact gross margin economics in fiscal 2027. More details are expected with the Q4 results.
Pure plans to capitalize on its current momentum by investing in R&D and Sales and Marketing, a shift from previous guidance. CFO Tarik Robbiati explained that the company sees “several opportunities in the enterprise space that we wanted to capture,” aiming to extend the current growth trajectory into fiscal year ’27.
The company is also seeing strong traction in “modern virtualization,” particularly with Portworx, their container-native storage platform. This aligns with industry trends driven by the search for alternatives to legacy virtualization models, the rise of containers and KubeVirt, and the increasing use of Kubernetes for AI and machine learning.
According to Giancarlo, “Portworx is now becoming practically mandatory for any scaled Kubernetes virtualization deployment.” This positions Pure at the infrastructure layer for next-generation applications and AI workloads.
Looking ahead, Pure anticipates potential supply chain constraints and rising commodity prices. “We foresee increased commodity pricing and excess demand putting pressure on global supply chains,” Giancarlo stated.
However, Pure believes its dynamic pricing model and global supply chain will help mitigate these challenges. Because storage market pricing tends to float with commodity costs, Pure believes its revenue line, rather than margins, will be most affected.
Pure added 258 new customers in Q3, bringing its Fortune 500 penetration to 63%. For the full fiscal year 2026, Pure now expects revenue of $3.63-3.64 billion and operating profit of $629-639 million.
Pure Storage’s Q3 performance is more than just a financial win; it’s a testament to their vision of becoming a central player in the AI-driven data landscape. As enterprises grapple with the complexities of managing and leveraging data for AI, Pure’s strategy to provide a unified, intelligent data platform is proving to be a winning formula, as diginomica has been monitoring closely since the company’s Accelerate conference.