Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 3.7% Higher – Time to Buy?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price was up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $467.80 and last traded at $454.10. 5,725,753 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 8,935,003 shares. The stock had previously closed at $437.93.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI storage optimism lifted the sector. SanDisk’s bullish long-term outlook, improving flash-memory sentiment and renewed confidence in AI infrastructure spending helped support demand expectations for Western Digital’s HDD and NAND products. SanDisk outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative signals were favorable. Zacks upgraded WDC to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. WDC was also included on momentum-stock lists, while recent price targets included a median of $597.50 and a JPMorgan target of $650. Zacks upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain strong. Western Digital reported quarterly revenue of approximately $3.75 billion, up 43.8% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $3.56, exceeding consensus estimates. The company also generated about $3.5 billion in fiscal 2026 free cash flow, supported by pricing, demand and high-capacity drives.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning was mixed. JPMorgan and Capital World Investors added sizable positions, while FMR, WCM, UBS and BlackRock reduced holdings. Analysts remain generally bullish, but some firms lowered price targets or maintained neutral ratings. WDC market reaction article
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance and cyclical concerns remain a risk. Despite the earnings beat, shares previously sold off sharply because guidance did not exceed heightened expectations. Investors are questioning whether the data-center storage supercycle is peaking and remain focused on NAND pricing, technology-transition execution and the sustainability of current margins.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may temper sentiment. CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares worth about $8.9 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Quiver data shows 135 insider sales and no purchases over the past six months, although insiders retain substantial ownership. Western Digital insider sale article

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Up 2.3%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $556.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.88. The stock has a market cap of $171.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 2.48%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. The trade was a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,093 shares of company stock valued at $11,650,737. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.