Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Jumps 6.3% – Should You Buy?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares rose 6.3% on Monday. The stock traded as high as $447.71 and last traded at $441.64. 11,248,695 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 30% from the average session volume of 8,624,788 shares. The stock had previously closed at $415.29.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts downplayed the Toshiba threat. Wall Street research indicated that even a substantial expansion in Toshiba’s HDD production would not quickly close the scale and capacity gap with Western Digital and Seagate. Analysts characterized the recent selloff as excessive and suggested investors “buy the dip.” Western Digital and Seagate shares bounce back as analysts downplay the Toshiba threat
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains a key bullish catalyst. Western Digital is being highlighted as a major potential beneficiary of the AI buildout, which is increasing demand for high-capacity storage and HDDs as data-center workloads expand. The company’s fiscal fourth-quarter sales reportedly rose about 44%, while earnings more than doubled year over year. Western Digital vs. Sandisk: One AI Storage Stock Is Good, the Other Is Better, Says Top Investor
• Positive Sentiment: Technical momentum improved. Trading commentary pointed to a rebound from support near $415, adding to the view that the prior decline may have created an attractive entry point for investors who remain bullish on the storage cycle. Stock of the Day: Is this the Bottom for Western Digital?
• Neutral Sentiment: Competition remains a risk. Toshiba’s plan to expand HDD production initially pressured WDC and raised concerns about future supply and pricing, although analysts currently believe the market remains undersupplied and that Western Digital’s scale provides protection.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $676.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $590.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $465.11 and a 200 day moving average of $471.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

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

Western Digital Company Profile

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.