Rosenblatt Securities Has Lowered Expectations for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Rosenblatt Securities from $800.00 to $650.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 83.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on WDC. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $590.00 to $770.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $900.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Western Digital from $650.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Western Digital from $676.00 to $643.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $602.52.

Western Digital Trading Down 6.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDC opened at $354.19 on Friday. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $121.71 and a 52 week high of $799.87. The company has a market cap of $132.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $435.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.46.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company’s revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 19.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total value of $306,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 108,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,392,640. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $31,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted earnings of $4.64 per share and revenue of $4.38 billion, exceeding estimates of approximately $4.09–$4.11 per share and $4.14 billion. Revenue increased 55.5% year over year, supported by data-center demand and improved pricing. Western Digital earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s fiscal Q2 outlook was also well above expectations, calling for approximately $5.1 billion in revenue and adjusted EPS of $5.80, plus or minus $0.20. Gross margins are expected to approach 60%, indicating continued pricing power and favorable supply-demand conditions. Western Digital earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: AI inference, robotics, cloud expansion, and long-term data retention are sustaining storage demand. Management reportedly sees customer planning visibility extending into 2030 and 2031, while HAMR technology and higher-capacity drives could support future growth. Western Digital AI storage demand
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital generated roughly $1.38 billion in free cash flow, raised its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.175 per share, and received supportive analyst actions, including Bank of America’s $800 price target. Brookstone Capital Management also increased its position by 4.5% in the third quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: HDD price growth is expected to moderate eventually. Although demand remains strong, investors may be unwilling to extend the stock’s valuation if pricing and margins peak.
• Negative Sentiment: The initial favorable earnings reaction reversed as selling spread across AI, memory, and storage stocks. Concerns include higher inventory, potential supply growth, hyperscaler spending risks, and execution challenges during the HAMR transition.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 807 shares worth approximately $306,660 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale reduced her holdings by only 0.74% and is therefore a limited signal, but continued insider selling may weigh on sentiment. SEC insider transaction filing

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.