Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 4.1% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) rose 4.1% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $397.33 and last traded at $396.42. Approximately 7,248,015 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 8,692,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $380.88.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $4.38 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $4.64 and free cash flow of $1.38 billion, exceeding expectations. Management also forecast approximately $5.1 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue and $5.80 in non-GAAP EPS, signaling continued strength in AI-related data-center storage demand. Western Digital slides as strong results fail to calm spending and sector worries
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets remain well above the current trading level, with Quiver Quantitative citing a six-month median target of $650. Several analysts view Western Digital as a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure expansion and rising demand for high-capacity nearline hard drives. Western Digital selloff and analyst targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital and Seagate are both benefiting from AI data-center spending. However, comparisons favor Seagate on some metrics, including return on equity, valuation and free-cash-flow generation, potentially affecting investor preference within the storage group. Seagate versus Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure spending and lofty storage-sector valuations can remain sustainable. A sharp decline in Sandisk and weakness across memory and semiconductor stocks amplified pressure on WDC, even after Sandisk delivered strong results and raised guidance. Memory-sector selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending of $227 million, continued buybacks and capacity and technology-transition needs have raised concerns about cash demands and future returns. Profit-taking after WDC’s substantial earlier advance may also be contributing to the decline. Quiver also reports 110 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months, an additional sentiment headwind. Western Digital spending and insider activity

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $720.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Western Digital from $900.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $900.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.04.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $137.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $423.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $415.98.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. Western Digital had a net margin of 69.20% and a return on equity of 55.62%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be paid a $0.1750 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is currently 2.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% 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 Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total value of $481,708.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Western Digital by 71.4% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 230,578 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $147,275,000 after purchasing an additional 96,078 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $19,694,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter valued at about $14,466,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $1,599,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $8,307,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

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.