Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 7.5% – What’s Next?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price rose 7.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $525.15 and last traded at $515.83. Approximately 9,595,569 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 9,329,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $480.00.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported better-than-expected Q3 results, with EPS of $2.72 versus estimates of $2.39 and revenue of $3.34 billion versus $3.25 billion expected, reinforcing confidence in the company’s operating momentum. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Soars to Record Peak on Stellar Q3 Results and Dividend Boost
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a 20% dividend increase, which signals management confidence in cash generation and may attract income-focused investors. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Soars to Record Peak on Stellar Q3 Results and Dividend Boost
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted rising AI infrastructure spending as a tailwind for memory and storage demand, which could benefit Western Digital’s HDD and flash-storage businesses. Why These 3 High-Flying Memory & Storage Stocks Will Rise Further
• Positive Sentiment: Broader strength in the memory trade, including gains in related names like Micron and SanDisk, is lifting sentiment across the group and supporting WDC’s valuation. Western Digital rallies 7% amid AI surge in Micron and Sandisk
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage noted a sharp move in SanDisk following its spin-off, which may affect how investors compare Western Digital’s remaining business and valuation, but this is more of a market-context story than a direct company catalyst. SanDisk’s 4,000% Moonshot Just Made Its Parent The Underdog
• Neutral Sentiment: A report on short interest showed zero reported short shares as of May 11, offering little actionable signal for investors. AI Dividend Increases: 3 Massive Winners Boosting Payouts (WDC)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.83.

Western Digital Stock Up 7.5%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $325.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.16. The company has a market capitalization of $177.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total value of $2,071,470.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,041 shares in the company, valued at $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% 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 sold 53,679 shares of company stock worth $18,049,314 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 33.3% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 80.2% during the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.