Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 15.4% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) rose 15.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $547.07 and last traded at $533.04. Approximately 8,266,894 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 8,925,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $462.04.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Memory stocks rallied broadly, with SanDisk leading the S&P 500 and peers including Micron, Seagate, SK Hynix and Western Digital moving higher. The sector-wide rebound is supporting WDC through improved investor sentiment. Memory Stocks Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst Chris Caso argued that a semiconductor oversupply cycle is unlikely before 2028 because the industry lacks sufficient physical infrastructure to create excess capacity. That outlook supports expectations for firm memory and storage pricing. Analyst Sees Limited Semiconductor Oversupply Risk
• Positive Sentiment: Strong hard-drive demand and tighter global supply expectations are reinforcing the bullish case for Western Digital’s cloud and enterprise storage business. Seagate’s results also helped lift expectations for rival WDC. Western Digital Benefits From Hard-Drive Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s upcoming earnings report is the next major catalyst. Investors will assess whether AI-driven demand is translating into stronger pricing, margins, cash flow and forward guidance. Western Digital Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about competition from China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies and whether the current supply shortage can persist, creating a risk to long-term pricing power. China Competition Raises Memory-Sector Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 808 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction represented only 0.70% of her holdings, limiting its significance, but it remains a modest negative sentiment signal.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $520.32.

Western Digital Trading Up 15.4%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $565.89 and a 200 day moving average of $404.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.73 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm’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 company earned $1.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value 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 approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% 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 have sold 29,767 shares of company stock worth $13,059,607 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently 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.