Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 2.2% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shot up 2.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $492.93 and last traded at $477.22. Approximately 11,656,373 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 29% from the average daily volume of 9,052,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $466.81.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was highlighted as one of the top memory stocks to own as AI infrastructure expands globally, with articles noting that rising AI data demand should support long-term HDD and storage growth. 4 Top-Ranked Memory Stocks to Buy as AI Infrastructure Expands Globally
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to point to strong revenue outlooks, margin expansion, and earnings growth for WDC, reinforcing the view that demand from AI infrastructure could drive further upside over time. Everyone’s Buying NVIDIA, but 2 Smaller AI Stocks Could Soar Higher
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary says tech and momentum stocks are experiencing extreme volatility, which helps explain the sharp swings in WDC despite no major new company-specific announcement. The Tech Shakeout: Market Extremes & Gavin Baker’s Bold Call
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also frames WDC’s move as part of a sector-wide selloff in memory and storage names, with investors reassessing how durable the AI-driven rally will be ahead of the company’s next earnings report. Why Is Western Digital Stock Falling on Thursday?
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital has been caught in a broader semiconductor selloff, with chip and storage stocks under pressure from profit-taking and rotation out of high-flying AI trades. Nasdaq Slips as Chip Stocks Come Under Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: WDC shares were also pressured after reports of a new Chinese memory-rival IPO filing, which added competitive concerns to an already fragile sentiment backdrop. Western Digital Stock Tumbles as CXMT Targets $10 Billion Shanghai IPO

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $520.32.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $164.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49 and a beta of 2.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $560.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $383.94.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ares Financial Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 853.8% in the 1st quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 124 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

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.