Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Down 5.2% – Here’s What Happened

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) fell 5.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $419.54 and last traded at $435.38. Approximately 7,742,487 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 8,877,335 shares. The stock had previously closed at $459.44.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s latest quarter exceeded expectations, with earnings of $3.56 per share versus the $3.31 consensus estimate and revenue of $3.75 billion versus $3.70 billion. Revenue increased approximately 44% year over year, while management guided to fiscal first-quarter 2027 earnings of $3.85–$4.15 per share. WDC’s Strong Q4 Raises the Stakes for Its Fiscal 2027 Product Ramp
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on AI-driven storage demand, citing accelerating earnings, cloud demand, and planned 40-terabyte product ramps. However, the bullish case depends on successful HAMR technology execution and continued data-center spending. Is WDC Still a Buy as Growth Surges but Valuation Stays Expensive?
• Neutral Sentiment: Management will participate in Citi’s 2026 Global TMT Conference on September 9. The presentation could provide updates on AI storage demand, product launches, and fiscal 2027 execution, but no new operating information was announced. WD to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Negative Sentiment: Memory stocks sold off after reports that Washington may allow Apple to source memory chips from Chinese suppliers. The possibility raises concerns about greater competition and potential pressure on U.S.-linked suppliers, including WDC. Memory Stocks Slide on Report Apple May Source Chinese Chips
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking is adding to the weakness after WDC’s substantial longer-term gains. Investors are also concerned that the stock’s premium valuation, concentration among cloud customers, and dependence on an aggressive product ramp leave limited room for execution disappointments. WDC Fell 11.6% in the Past Month

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Summit Insights cut Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $676.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $150.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $552.24 and a 200 day moving average of $434.46.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 24,679 shares of company stock valued at $11,451,605 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter worth $32,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.