Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $301.05, but opened at $292.00. Western Digital shares last traded at $300.47, with a volume of 2,845,544 shares.
More Western Digital News
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and deep-dive pieces highlight cloud and hyperscale demand as a durable growth/margin driver for WDC—cloud sales and high-capacity drive shipments are cited as core upside. Western Digital: Cloud Key Driver To Growth And Margins
- Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst write-ups argue WDC is positioned to benefit from AI and cloud storage demand (better cash returns and long-term targets vs. peers), supporting earnings and valuation narratives. Western Digital Riding on AI & Cloud Boom to Power Growth
- Positive Sentiment: Technical/market-note: a short-term trading signal was reported that preceded a rebound in WDC shares, indicating some technical buyer interest. Western Digital Shares Rebound, Climb 3% After Key Trading Signal
- Neutral Sentiment: Retail promotions and heavy discounts on WD-branded SSDs/HDDs (Amazon, Best Buy, Backup Day sales) are driving consumer activity but could signal short-term pricing pressure or inventory moves; potential mixed impact on near-term ASPs and margins. WD World Backup Day Sale: Top deals on My Passport and Elements HDDs
- Neutral Sentiment: Major retailer SSD deals highlight strong promotional activity for WD Black consumer SSDs—good for unit sales but ambiguous for margins. These WD Black SSDs are over 60% off during Amazon’s Spring Sale
- Negative Sentiment: Sector shock: Google’s TurboQuant announcement (new algorithm that can sharply reduce AI memory needs) triggered a broad sell-off in memory/storage names as investors reassess the trajectory of AI-driven hardware demand. That headlines directly pressured WDC. Google TurboQuant Puts Western Digital AI Storage Growth In Focus
- Negative Sentiment: Follow-on coverage shows memory chip stocks fell sharply after TurboQuant, amplifying downside for WDC via sector contagion and higher risk premia on future demand forecasts. Memory Chip Stocks Drop 6% as Google Unveils AI Efficiency Algorithm
- Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution: some market notes (e.g., Micron coverage) highlight doubts about how long the current memory cycle can last—macro/earnings concerns that can pressure WDC despite its strong recent results. Stock Market Today, March 26: Micron Technology Slides
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
WDC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Argus set a $300.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.58.
Western Digital Trading Down 7.7%
The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $271.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.82. The company has a market cap of $92.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.76.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital
In related news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 8,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.32, for a total transaction of $2,174,815.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 99,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,347,148.32. This trade represents a 7.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 121,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,795 shares of company stock valued at $24,265,884. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stance Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2,134.1% in the 4th quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 7,462 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after buying an additional 7,128 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 56,391 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $9,715,000 after acquiring an additional 9,615 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Western Digital by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 3,529 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 59,679 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $10,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,792 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is 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.
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