Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 6.9% – Here’s What Happened

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price traded up 6.9% during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $388.08 and last traded at $380.88. Approximately 8,939,203 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 8,694,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $356.13.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Improved analyst sentiment: Zacks upgraded WDC to Rank #2 (Buy), citing stronger earnings prospects. Fiscal second-quarter forecasts are also improving as surging HDD demand, higher prices and expanding AI workloads support revenue, margins and earnings. All You Need to Know About Western Digital Rating Upgrade to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Strong financial results and shareholder returns: Recent quarterly revenue rose 55% year over year and exceeded expectations, while Western Digital raised its quarterly dividend by 16.7% to 17%. The results and dividend increase reinforce confidence in the company’s earnings power. Down More Than 50% From Its High, Is Western Digital Stock a Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud-storage tailwinds: Management expects AI storage demand to grow about 25% annually, while industry commentary points to cloud infrastructure demand and customers locking in memory supply for multiple years. These trends could support sustained pricing power and expanding margins. AI Trade in Trouble? Western Digital CEO Explains Why He’s Not Worried
• Neutral Sentiment: WDC is being viewed as potentially undervalued after a sharp pullback from its high, but its substantial multiyear advance makes valuation dependent on continued earnings growth. Investors are weighing the company against other AI and semiconductor opportunities, including Arm.
• Negative Sentiment: Price-target and supply concerns: Argus lowered its target from $600 to $500, and other analysts warn that rising industry supply could pressure pricing and expose WDC to future cyclicality. Execution and valuation risks remain despite the “buy” rating. Wall Street Just Slashed Western Digital’s Price Target

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $600.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Western Digital from $590.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.04.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $429.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $413.05. The company has a market capitalization of $142.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.53. Western Digital had a return on equity of 55.62% and a net margin of 69.20%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1750 per share. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 807 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $306,660.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 108,928 shares in the company, valued at $41,392,640. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its stake in Western Digital by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 32,578 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $14,805,000 after buying an additional 1,968 shares during the period. Jacobsen Capital Management lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 618 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Western Digital by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 156,197 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $70,985,000 after buying an additional 3,319 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 1,162 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Western Digital

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.