Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $307.50 and last traded at $296.3750, with a volume of 3803248 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $273.74.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Market recognition of WDC’s rally — coverage highlights WDC as the second-best performer in the S&P 500 for 2026 so far, underscoring momentum and investor interest in the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish investment thesis on AI storage upside — deep-dive pieces argue WDC is capturing enormous AI-driven demand, framing the recent gains as part of a multi-year opportunity. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst momentum — WDC is appearing on Zacks’ Rank #1 (Strong Buy) lists and their best-growth lists, which can attract buy-side flows and momentum investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Positive media narratives around AI demand and product relevance — multiple outlets profile WDC as a critical supplier in the AI megatrend, reinforcing the growth story. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor access / upcoming presentation — WDC will present at the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference on March 3; the webcast gives management a chance to update investors and could influence guidance/expectations. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and risk warnings after a massive rally — analysts note a ~300%+ one-year gain and ask whether risks (cyclical demand, supply, buyback sustainability, valuation) are building, which can prompt profit-taking and increased short-term volatility. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.58.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $216.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.06. The company has a market capitalization of $95.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares in the company, valued at $159,288,807.84. The trade was a 3.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 6,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $1,833,922.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,932,163.62. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 70,522 shares of company stock worth $17,661,708 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $5,196,484,000 after purchasing an additional 243,177 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $593,045,000 after purchasing an additional 186,030 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $791,317,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Western Digital by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,535,972 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $354,247,000 after buying an additional 431,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $788,729,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.