Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Jumps 1.8% – Time to Buy?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price was up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $463.55 and last traded at $462.56. Approximately 6,132,460 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 8,519,738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $454.46.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was identified as one of three stocks with accelerating earnings growth. Zacks said this trend can precede share-price gains and signal improving business momentum. 3 Stocks With Accelerating Earnings Poised to Soar in October
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to view WDC as a long-term growth stock, supported by favorable style scores and its role in AI-related data infrastructure. The company’s recent results also showed strong momentum, with revenue up 43.8% year over year and earnings exceeding estimates. Why Western Digital is a Top Growth Stock for the Long-Term
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s hard drives were highlighted as infrastructure supporting AI-powered NAS systems and high-intensity data workloads. Separately, a market analysis described data-center bottlenecks as creating a potential buying opportunity for WDC, implying that demand may remain strong as customers expand storage capacity. Western Digital Discusses WD Red Pro HDDs
• Neutral Sentiment: Several Zacks articles compared WDC with Super Micro Computer on valuation. These reports may attract value-oriented investors, but they do not represent a new corporate catalyst or change in guidance. SMCI or WDC: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital dipped alongside Micron and SK Hynix after Micron’s shares fell despite record results and above-consensus guidance. The reaction suggests investors may be taking profits or demanding stronger evidence before bidding up semiconductor and storage stocks, creating a near-term sector headwind for WDC. Micron Slips Despite Record Quarter and Above-Consensus Guidance

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered 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 note on Thursday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Up 1.8%

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $469.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $469.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.20, for a total transaction of $194,918.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 111,030 shares in the company, valued at $50,096,736. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at about $1,602,927,000. Anther Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $885,565,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $350,403,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $627,606,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and supplies data-storage products and solutions. The company’s portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs) used in cloud and enterprise data centers, personal computers, network-attached storage systems and other applications that require high-capacity data storage.

Western Digital markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD and Ultrastar. Its offerings include enterprise and data-center HDDs, storage products for business and consumer systems, and related technologies designed to help organizations store, manage and access large volumes of data.

Founded in 1970, Western Digital has evolved from a maker of electronic components into a global data-storage company.