Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 7.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) traded up 7.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $601.00 and last traded at $577.46. Approximately 7,532,729 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 9,169,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $539.00.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reportedly initiated/issued a Hold on Western Digital, while other analysts remain constructive on the memory cycle and some price targets in the group stay well above current levels. Western Digital (WDC) Gets a Hold from Goldman Sachs
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary says the pullback may be a reset rather than a trend change, with tight supply in data-center storage and AI-related demand still supporting the longer-term investment case for WDC. Flash Crash or Cash? The AI Hardware Reset Investors Can’t Ignore (WDC)
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital has also been a trending stock on investor sites, reflecting elevated attention rather than a clear fundamental change. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Western Digital Corporation (WDC) is a Trending Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital fell with the broader memory/storage cohort after Samsung’s results triggered sector-wide selling and renewed concerns about near-term volatility in chip and storage names. Western Digital Stock Drops 8.5%: Why Samsung’s Profit Surge Triggered a Tech Selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Another report said WDC and peers sank as investors worried Samsung’s strong quarter could still lead to a broader memory-sector pullback and valuation compression. Micron, SanDisk, and Western Digital Sink 7% as Samsung Earnings Spark a Memory Selloff

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.52.

Western Digital Stock Down 7.9%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $545.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $365.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is an increase from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.58%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. The trade was a 0.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. 55 North Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $312,000. Thrive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $247,000. Fermata Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter worth $244,000. Foster Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 10.1% in the second quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.