Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 4.8% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) were up 4.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $799.87 and last traded at $746.23. 16,539,503 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 85% from the average session volume of 8,937,366 shares. The stock had previously closed at $712.13.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is being highlighted as a momentum stock with additional upside potential, helped by strong investor interest in AI-driven storage demand. Seagate & Another AI Memory Momentum Stock With Big Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Shares are getting a boost from sector-wide strength in memory and storage after Apple’s reported comments on unavoidable memory price hikes lifted sentiment across the group. MU, WDC, STX: Why Are AI Memory and Storage Stocks Rising Today, 6/18/2026?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst coverage has reinforced the bullish case, with price-target hikes and articles arguing that WDC’s earnings power could remain strong as pricing improves. Morgan Stanley Raises Price Target on Western Digital (WDC). Here is Why
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is also being viewed as a beneficiary of AI and cloud demand, with multiple reports pointing to improving earnings and sustained storage demand across data centers. Western Digital Earnings Nearly Double on AI, Cloud Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market rotation has favored financials over tech at times, which could create some volatility for semiconductor and storage names even as WDC’s stock-specific story remains strong. Financials Rose, Tech Fell Before Kevin Warsh Fed Debut

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $450.46.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $257.21 billion, a PE ratio of 44.55 and a beta of 2.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $470.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $320.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 163.8% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, BOKF NA increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.