Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Falls 2.1% – What’s Next?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares traded down 2.1% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $336.00 and last traded at $356.45. Approximately 12,161,706 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 41% from the average daily volume of 8,652,859 shares. The stock had previously closed at $364.10.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo analysts said the recent selloff in Western Digital and Seagate has been “well overdone” and remained broadly bullish, providing some support for the long-term outlook. Seagate and Western Digital Stocks Fall on Toshiba Fears
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital expects fiscal first-quarter revenue to increase about 45%, driven by strong AI infrastructure and cloud-storage demand. Its prior quarter exceeded analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings, while management’s fiscal 2027 EPS guidance remains solid. Western Digital Pre-Q1 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are waiting for the October 22 earnings report to determine whether accelerating AI and hyperscaler demand can support current earnings estimates and justify the stock’s valuation. Western Digital Earnings Preview
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo reduced its price target for Western Digital, adding to bearish headlines even though the firm reportedly maintained a constructive view. The cuts have intensified concerns that expectations for the AI trade had become excessive. Friday’s First Moves
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned that Toshiba’s planned hard-disk-drive capacity expansion could increase future supply and pricing pressure. Rising interest-rate risks and questions about whether roughly $1 trillion of hyperscaler capital spending can continue are also weighing on storage stocks. Seagate and Western Digital Face Supply Risks
• Negative Sentiment: A broader technology and memory-stock selloff, concerns about Chinese competition in server memory, and analyst commentary describing Western Digital as potentially near a cyclical peak have prompted investors to lock in gains after its substantial advance. Memory Stocks Extend Selloff on China Competition Fears

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Summit Insights lowered Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $608.26.

Western Digital Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $124.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 2.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $442.85 and a 200 day moving average of $476.83.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 2.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.20, for a total value of $194,918.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 111,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,096,736. This represents a 0.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Banque Pictet & Cie SA acquired a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $591,000. James T. Borello RIA bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $50,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 8,201 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 349.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 2,039 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 593 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.