Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 7.5% Higher – Here’s Why

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price rose 7.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $297.56 and last traded at $290.95. Approximately 10,667,068 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average daily volume of 10,596,344 shares. The stock had previously closed at $270.57.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved an additional $4.0 billion share‑buyback authorization, signaling confidence in cash generation and increasing near‑term buyback demand. Western Digital jumps as buyback expansion, AI-era HDD roadmap, and balance-sheet actions fuel bullish sentiment
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s Innovation Day outlined a multi‑year HDD roadmap for AI/data centers (40TB UltraSMR in customer qualification; path to 100TB+ HAMR by 2029), reinforcing the growth narrative around high‑capacity, lower‑cost storage for cloud and AI workloads. Western Digital jumps as buyback expansion, AI-era HDD roadmap, and balance-sheet actions fuel bullish sentiment
• Positive Sentiment: Heavy analyst buy/overweight coverage and a string of price‑target increases have supported investor conviction amid the rally. Media notes WDC’s strong YTD and 12‑month outperformance versus the S&P are drawing more buy‑side attention. Western Digital Stock (WDC) Has Massively Outpaced S&P 500
• Neutral Sentiment: Retrospectives on the SanDisk split argue the separation helped the market re‑rate WDC’s AI‑focused HDD business — a longer‑term positive but not an immediate catalyst. Why SanDisk’s split from Western Digital has been such a huge win for investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons and analyst write‑ups (e.g., Zacks) reinforce strategic positioning vs. peers, providing useful context for investors evaluating exposure to AI/data‑center storage. Wall Street Analysts See Western Digital (WDC) as a Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Plans to monetize most of the remaining SanDisk stake (secondary sale / debt‑for‑equity exchanges) cut both ways: proceeds reduce leverage but the secondary offering/large sales create equity overhang and near‑term supply concerns. Western Digital Doubles Down On AI Data Centers And Cleaner Balance Sheet
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales (small blocks by Cynthia L. Tregillis disclosed in SEC filings) are minor in size but can be magnified by headlines and contribute to short‑term selling pressure on weaker days. SEC Filing: Insider Sales (Cynthia L. Tregillis)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, December 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price objective on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on Western Digital to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.58.

Western Digital Stock Up 7.5%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $231.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.41. 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 market capitalization of $98.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.80.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.Western Digital’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total value of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 623,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,288,807.84. This trade represents a 3.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 67,392 shares of company stock worth $17,235,141 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 86.9% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 551.4% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 241 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.