Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Down 2% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price traded down 2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $630.30 and last traded at $638.72. Approximately 9,216,109 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 0% from the average session volume of 9,194,522 shares. The stock had previously closed at $651.88.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research initiated coverage of Western Digital with a Buy rating, and reports said the firm’s price target implies about 55% upside, helping fuel a sharp rally in the shares. Analysts See 55% Upside in Seagate and Western Digital Despite Chip Sector Weakness
• Positive Sentiment: Options activity reportedly skewed bullish, with roughly twice as many calls bought as puts, reinforcing the view that traders are positioning for more upside in WDC. Analysts See 55% Upside in Seagate and Western Digital Despite Chip Sector Weakness
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was also highlighted as a strong momentum name tied to AI infrastructure demand, with momentum screens and technical trends supporting the stock’s recent strength. 3 AI Infrastructure Stocks Up 500%+ With More Upside in 2H 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary noted that WDC is trading well above its 200-day moving average, confirming a strong bullish trend, though the note was mainly technical rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Why Is Western Digital Stock Gaining Tuesday?
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader memory-chip optimism has continued across the group, with peers like Micron also benefiting from strong earnings and analyst upgrades, which is helping sentiment toward Western Digital. Why Is Micron Stock Rising Nearly 1% Overnight?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.04.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.0%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $523.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $349.26. The company has a market capitalization of $220.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. Western Digital’s revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,905,270.79. The trade was a 4.93% 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, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 229.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital in the second quarter worth about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 55.3% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.