Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report)’s share price rose 3.4% on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $366.00 and last traded at $364.32. Approximately 8,309,409 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 8,638,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $352.21.
Trending Headlines about Western Digital
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley said it expects Western Digital to deliver strong quarterly results and better-than-expected guidance. Although the firm lowered its price target to $643 from $676, the new target still implies substantial upside from recent trading levels. Seagate, Western Digital stocks gain as this analyst sees 80% upside
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley described itself as an “aggressive buyer” of Western Digital and Seagate ahead of earnings, arguing that recent selling pressure related to AI financing concerns and competition may have been excessive. Seagate and Western Digital Stocks Sank Last Week
- Positive Sentiment: Western Digital participated in a broader rebound among AI-related stocks after a sharp technology-sector selloff. Investors may be positioning ahead of the company’s fiscal first-quarter results, scheduled for late Thursday. Sandisk, Datadog, Amazon Lead S&P 500 As AI Stocks Rebound
- Positive Sentiment: Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital to “Strong Buy,” adding to the bullish analyst sentiment surrounding the stock. Wall Street Zen Upgrades Western Digital
- Neutral Sentiment: This week’s technology earnings are viewed as an important test of whether AI-related capital spending and demand remain strong. Western Digital’s results and forward guidance could therefore produce heightened volatility for WDC and the broader storage group. This Week’s Tech Earnings Could Be a Validation Moment for the AI Trade
- Negative Sentiment: Jim Cramer warned that Western Digital could be especially vulnerable if data-center capacity expansion or AI infrastructure spending slows. The concern is amplified by the stock’s large gains over the year and the possibility that profit expectations already reflect strong demand. Cramer warns SanDisk and Western Digital are worst stocks if data center capacity shrinks
- Negative Sentiment: Despite the recent rebound, WDC remains below its major moving averages after a steep prior-week decline, indicating that technical momentum is still weak and investor confidence remains fragile. Sandisk, Datadog, Amazon Lead S&P 500 As AI Stocks Rebound
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts have commented on WDC shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Summit Insights cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $590.00 to $770.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Western Digital from $650.00 to $615.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.04.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Western Digital
Western Digital Stock Performance
The business’s 50 day moving average is $441.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 2.11.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.
Western Digital Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 2.48%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 24,629 shares of company stock worth $11,033,404 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Western Digital
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 3.0% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 196.3% during the third quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 2,723 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 6.6% during the third quarter. Eagle Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 4.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 76,193 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $34,627,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.2% in the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 27,011 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $12,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.
Western Digital Company Profile
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.
The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.
See Also
- Five stocks we like better than Western Digital
- Aurora Rejects Curaleaf’s Higher Bid, But the Takeover Fight Isn’t Over
- Centrus Energy Is Building a Nuclear Fuel Powerhouse—Why Is Its Stock Struggling?
- Halliburton Gains Traction: Multiyear Upcycle Ahead
- Meta Platforms’ AI Comeback Faces an Earnings Test—And a $10 Billion Charge
Receive News & Ratings for Western Digital Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Western Digital and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
