Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Releases Q2 2027 Earnings Guidance

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) updated its second quarter 2027 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 5.600-6.000 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 4.720. The company issued revenue guidance of $5.0 billion-$5.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $4.5 billion.

Western Digital Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $343.67 on Friday. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $121.85 and a 1 year high of $799.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $432.18 and its 200-day moving average is $479.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 56.91% and a net margin of 69.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 19.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a $0.1750 dividend. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 2.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WDC. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Western Digital from $900.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Western Digital from $730.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.04.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,650,465.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted EPS of $4.64, above the roughly $4.09–$4.11 consensus, while revenue rose 55.5% year over year to $4.38 billion. Growth was driven by strong cloud and data-center demand, higher-capacity drives and improved pricing. Western Digital Q1 earnings and revenues beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued substantially stronger-than-expected fiscal Q2 guidance, calling for revenue of approximately $5.0 billion to $5.2 billion and adjusted EPS of $5.60 to $6.00, versus consensus estimates near $4.5 billion and $4.72, respectively. Western Digital forecasts strong second-quarter growth
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related storage demand remains durable, with management citing growing requirements from inference, robotics and long-term data retention. Analysts and industry commentators expect HDDs to remain an important, cost-effective storage layer for data centers, potentially supporting demand visibility into 2030–2031. Western Digital CEO discusses durable AI storage demand
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital generated about $1.38 billion in free cash flow and increased its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.175 per share. JPMorgan also raised its price target to $650 and maintained an overweight rating. Western Digital Q1 revenue and dividend update
• Neutral Sentiment: Other analysts remained bullish but reduced some price targets, reflecting elevated expectations and uncertainty around the pace of future growth. TD Cowen, for example, lowered its target to $430 while retaining a buy rating; Rosenblatt and Cantor Fitzgerald also cut targets but remained positive.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock’s strong results were not enough to overcome a broad sell-off in AI, memory and technology shares. Investors are questioning whether hyperscaler capital spending can remain elevated and whether Western Digital’s unusually strong HDD pricing and margins are sustainable.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher planned capital expenditures, possible industry supply increases, inventory concerns and execution risks surrounding the HAMR technology transition are weighing on sentiment. Management also acknowledged that HDD price growth could eventually moderate. Western Digital faces capex and supply concerns
• Negative Sentiment: A disclosed insider sale of 807 shares worth approximately $306,660 added a modest sentiment overhang, although it was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represented only a small portion of the insider’s holdings. SEC insider transaction filing

About Western Digital

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.