Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) was up 1.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $460.49 and last traded at $448.17. 7,389,750 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 8,596,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $441.36.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI inference workloads, sovereign AI projects, neocloud operators and physical-AI applications are expected to broaden demand for Western Digital’s high-capacity hard-disk drives. Industry supply remains tight, potentially giving WDC additional pricing leverage and supporting revenue and margins. Can Sovereign AI and Neoclouds Extend Western Digital’s Growth Run?
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital and Seagate showcased high-capacity storage technology at the AI Infrastructure Summit, reinforcing the investment case that data-center expansion will require substantial storage capacity in addition to computing hardware. WD And Seagate Showed High Capacity Storage At The AI Infra Summit
• Positive Sentiment: Broader technology and memory-stock strength provided a supportive trading environment. Analysts also point to accelerating enterprise-storage demand tied to AI inference as a near-term catalyst for WDC. What’s Going on With Western Digital Stock on Monday?
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s strong multi-year rally has prompted investors to assess whether earnings growth can continue to justify its valuation. The company’s latest reported results showed substantial year-over-year revenue and EPS growth, but expectations for AI-driven storage demand are already elevated. Western Digital Stock May Be Undervalued After Its Huge Three Year Run
• Negative Sentiment: Sector positioning is mixed: SanDisk declined while most memory stocks advanced, a divergence that may signal profit-taking or caution after large gains. Although not specific to WDC, it highlights the risk that elevated AI-storage expectations could lead to volatility. SanDisk Falls Despite Memory Rally

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $560.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $590.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.5%

The company has a market cap of $154.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 2.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $479.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $458.36.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 112.8% in the second quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,263 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $11,026,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 480.4% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $384,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its stake in Western Digital by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 24,252 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $15,490,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and sells data storage products and solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises, businesses and consumers. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity enterprise drives used in cloud and data center environments, as well as products for network-attached storage, surveillance and personal computing.

The company markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and Ultrastar.