Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 1.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shot up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $295.43 and last traded at $285.99. 8,012,384 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 10,756,720 shares. The stock had previously closed at $282.58.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven “memory supercycle” thesis — smart money is rotating into memory names as AI infrastructure demand creates historic needs for speed and capacity, supporting WDC’s secular demand outlook. The Memory Supercycle Is Here—2 Winners From 1 Breakup
• Positive Sentiment: Large buyback — WDC authorized an additional $4.0 billion share repurchase (bringing total remaining capacity to ~$4.484B), which reduces share count and signals management confidence. This is a key near-term driver for EPS accretion and sentiment. 3 Massive Buybacks That Map the Market’s Mood in 2026 (WDC)
• Positive Sentiment: Margin improvement — WDC reported a 46.1% gross margin in fiscal Q2 (up ~770 bps YoY and 220 bps sequentially), showing the company is capturing pricing and mix benefits from a tight supply environment. Higher margins underpin profitability and valuation expansion. What’s Supporting Western Digital’s Gross Margin Momentum?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325 price target, providing additional broker support and implied upside from current levels. Wedbush Outperform Reaffirmation
• Positive Sentiment: Debt reduction — Western Digital completed redemption of its 2026 senior notes, tightening near-term liabilities and improving financial flexibility. That reduces refinancing risk and complements shareholder-return actions. Western Digital Completes Redemption of 2026 Senior Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Context and momentum recap — Longer-form coverage (Forbes) highlights WDC’s ~500% multi‑year surge driven by AI demand, restructuring, and buybacks; useful for sentiment but largely descriptive rather than a fresh catalyst. What’s Behind The Incredible 500% Surge Of Western Digital Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwinds — Coverage (The Motley Fool / CNBC mentions) reiterates an AI memory crunch benefiting suppliers like WDC; supports the structural bull case but is broader sector confirmation rather than company-specific news. The AI Memory Crunch Is Creating Winners and Losers. Here Are the Stocks to Buy

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WDC. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $197.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, December 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $193.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.58.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.40. The firm has a market cap of $96.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued 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. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.02%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 6,780 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.49, for a total value of $1,833,922.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 136,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,932,163.62. This trade represents a 4.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total value of $277,956.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at $596,524.46. The trade was a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 70,522 shares of company stock valued at $17,661,708 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 124.5% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 211 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 102.5% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 399 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 407 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 86.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 441 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in Western Digital by 551.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 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.