Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 1.8% – Should You Buy?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price shot up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $463.55 and last traded at $462.56. 6,132,460 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 8,519,738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $454.46.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts characterized the selloff as potentially excessive, arguing that Western Digital’s strong exposure to cloud and AI-related storage demand remains intact and that the decline could create a more attractive entry point. Why Toshiba’s Expansion Plans Just Sent Western Digital Stock Lower
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital recently reported strong operating momentum, including quarterly revenue growth of roughly 44% year over year, earnings above analyst expectations, and upbeat fiscal 2027 guidance. Analysts cited in recent coverage continue to see substantial long-term upside. Seagate vs. Western Digital: One Stock Is a Buy After Today’s Drop
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader market opened higher after a weaker-than-expected jobs report eased Treasury yields, but that macro support did not offset company-specific concerns surrounding storage supply. Tech Stocks Jump After Jobs Report Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Nikkei reported that Toshiba plans to invest approximately $380 million, or 60 billion yen, to roughly double its Philippine HDD production capacity by fiscal 2027. Toshiba reportedly aims to increase its share of HDD capacity to about 30%, from just over 10% currently. WDC and STX Stocks Slide on Toshiba Expansion
• Negative Sentiment: Investors fear the added supply could weaken HDD pricing power, reduce margins, and pressure Western Digital’s market share just as AI data-center demand has supported expectations for tight supply and higher profitability. Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) also fell, highlighting that the concern affects the entire HDD industry. Seagate and Western Digital Fall on Toshiba Supply Report

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 target price on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $676.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $143.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $465.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $470.44.

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. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.20, for a total value of $194,918.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 111,030 shares in the company, valued at $50,096,736. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% 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 a total of 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $1,602,927,000. Anther Capital Ltd bought a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $885,565,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth $350,403,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $627,606,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and supplies data-storage products and solutions. The company’s portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs) used in cloud and enterprise data centers, personal computers, network-attached storage systems and other applications that require high-capacity data storage.

Western Digital markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD and Ultrastar. Its offerings include enterprise and data-center HDDs, storage products for business and consumer systems, and related technologies designed to help organizations store, manage and access large volumes of data.

Founded in 1970, Western Digital has evolved from a maker of electronic components into a global data-storage company.