Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald from $900.00 to $625.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the data storage provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 76.46% from the stock’s current price.

WDC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Western Digital from $525.00 to $470.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $540.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $608.07.

Western Digital Stock Down 6.4%

WDC stock opened at $354.19 on Friday. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $121.71 and a twelve month high of $799.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $435.48 and its 200-day moving average is $480.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%. The business’s revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 19.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the transaction, the insider owned 80,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. The trade was a 3.36% 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 90 days, insiders sold 25,436 shares of company stock valued at $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. Gibbs Wealth Management bought a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $567,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Western Digital by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. James Investment Research Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. James Investment Research Inc. now owns 8,064 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.3% in the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 33,170 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $15,074,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 44,104 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $20,043,000 after buying an additional 1,880 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted earnings of $4.64 per share and revenue of $4.38 billion, exceeding estimates of approximately $4.09–$4.11 per share and $4.14 billion. Revenue increased 55.5% year over year, supported by data-center demand and improved pricing. Western Digital earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s fiscal Q2 outlook was also well above expectations, calling for approximately $5.1 billion in revenue and adjusted EPS of $5.80, plus or minus $0.20. Gross margins are expected to approach 60%, indicating continued pricing power and favorable supply-demand conditions. Western Digital earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: AI inference, robotics, cloud expansion, and long-term data retention are sustaining storage demand. Management reportedly sees customer planning visibility extending into 2030 and 2031, while HAMR technology and higher-capacity drives could support future growth. Western Digital AI storage demand
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital generated roughly $1.38 billion in free cash flow, raised its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.175 per share, and received supportive analyst actions, including Bank of America’s $800 price target. Brookstone Capital Management also increased its position by 4.5% in the third quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: HDD price growth is expected to moderate eventually. Although demand remains strong, investors may be unwilling to extend the stock’s valuation if pricing and margins peak.
• Negative Sentiment: The initial favorable earnings reaction reversed as selling spread across AI, memory, and storage stocks. Concerns include higher inventory, potential supply growth, hyperscaler spending risks, and execution challenges during the HAMR transition.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 807 shares worth approximately $306,660 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale reduced her holdings by only 0.74% and is therefore a limited signal, but continued insider selling may weigh on sentiment. SEC insider transaction filing

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.