Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Announces Earnings Results

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25, FiscalAI reports. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Western Digital Trading Down 5.4%

Shares of WDC opened at $519.17 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $569.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $415.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $73.14 and a 12-month high of $799.87.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported adjusted fourth-quarter EPS of $3.56, above the $3.31 consensus estimate, while revenue increased 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion, also exceeding expectations. Profit more than11-fold from the prior-year quarter. Western Digital Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI customers are negotiating storage capacity agreements extending through 2031, suggesting strong long-term visibility for hard-drive demand tied to data-center expansion. Western Digital Says AI Customers Are Negotiating Storage Deals Through 2031
• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird maintained a Buy rating and raised its price target to $630 from $450, citing AI-supported HDD strength and improving profitability. Western Digital Earns Buy Rating as Analyst Lifts Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable September 17 to shareholders of record September 8. The approximately 0.1% yield is unlikely to be a major share-price catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: First-quarter fiscal 2027 guidance calls for EPS of $3.85–$4.15 and revenue of $4.0–$4.2 billion, both above published consensus estimates. However, investors viewed the outlook as disappointing relative to elevated expectations for AI-related growth, triggering declines across storage stocks including SanDisk and Western Digital. Sandisk and Western Digital Drag on Chip Stocks as Lofty Expectations Eclipse Strong Earnings

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at $60,663,290.57. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 5,093 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,337 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Western Digital by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 1,926.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $512,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228,661 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $483,977,000 after purchasing an additional 159,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Western Digital by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,611,856 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $449,945,000 after buying an additional 44,090 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WDC shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $532.32.

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.