Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.42 EPS

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42, Briefing.com reports. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.57) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital updated its Q4 guidance to $0.90-1.20 EPS and its Q4 2024 guidance to 0.900-1.200 EPS.

Western Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $71.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.96. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $32.01 and a 52 week high of $76.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WDC. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Benchmark raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.