Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Issues Q4 2026 Earnings Guidance

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) issued an update on its fourth quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 3.100-3.400 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 2.690. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.6 billion-$3.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.4 billion.

Western Digital Trading Up 5.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC traded up $21.76 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $434.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,400,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,454,714. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.58, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $314.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.19. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $43.60 and a fifty-two week high of $441.99.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The firm’s revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday. Argus set a $300.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Western Digital to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 8,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.32, for a total transaction of $2,174,815.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,347,148.32. The trade was a 7.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 92,711 shares of company stock valued at $24,300,404. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: WDC beat Q3 estimates (EPS $2.72 vs. ~ $2.34–2.41) and reported revenue growth of ~45%, with conference materials and a slide deck available — results underpin the rally and justify re-rating on stronger profitability. MarketBeat Press Release / Slide Deck
• Positive Sentiment: Management guided Q4 EPS to $3.10–3.40 and revenue roughly $3.6–3.8B, above consensus — signaling sustained pricing power from enterprise AI storage demand. Reuters: WDC forecasts revenue above estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Peer signals: SanDisk and Seagate also flagged strong AI-related demand and higher revenue outlooks, giving sector-level validation that hyperscaler capex is driving near-term HDD/SSD consumption. Reuters: SanDisk joins peers signaling AI demand
• Positive Sentiment: Sector momentum from Seagate’s blowout results lifted investor appetite for WDC ahead of and after the print — reinforcing a near-term “picks-and-shovels” trade into storage suppliers. 247WallSt: HDD trade lifts WDC & STX
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive (some raised price targets; institutional notes like Bank of America were bullish), but consensus estimates were elevated into the print — meaning future upside depends on execution and whether demand stays strong. Barchart: Analysts bullish ahead of earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and upbeat guidance, some traders sold into the news — headlines and TV coverage called it a “buy the rumor, sell the news” episode after WDC’s large prior gains, producing intraday pullbacks. MarketWatch: Stock slides despite earnings beat
• Negative Sentiment: Several outlets noted late-day slips and profit-taking after the print; elevated valuation and very large short- and long-term moves increase volatility risk for investors entering new positions now. Yahoo Finance: Stock slips late despite beat

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $221,800,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $512,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,661 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $83,418,000. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 532.6% in the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 593,296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $102,207,000 after acquiring an additional 499,510 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.