Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 12.5% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) rose 12.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $553.63 and last traded at $548.39. Approximately 7,301,481 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 9,005,565 shares. The stock had previously closed at $487.42.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a sector-wide rebound in chips and memory stocks, as investors buy the dip ahead of major tech earnings and view the recent selloff as a possible entry point. Why Is Western Digital Stock Surging on Tuesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary has turned more bullish on memory pricing and AI-driven storage demand, supporting the view that Western Digital could benefit from a stronger demand backdrop and improving outlook. SanDisk Rises 8%, Western Digital Jumps 9%, Micron Adds 7% as Memory Rebound Accelerates
• Positive Sentiment: AI-related demand is being framed as a long-term catalyst for a major hardware and memory upgrade cycle, which could lift Western Digital’s growth prospects over time. AAPL, HPQ, SNDK, WDC: Gene Munster Says ‘Memory Hog’ AI Will Trigger a Massive 2027 Upgrade Cycle
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple market recaps note that Western Digital is moving with the broader AI trade as chip stocks rally and volatility persists, suggesting sentiment is helping the stock as much as company-specific news. Chip Stocks Surge but Software Sector Feels the Pain Again
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles also highlight that Western Digital has been heavily searched and widely discussed, reflecting heightened investor attention rather than a clear fundamental change. Investors Heavily Search Western Digital Corporation (WDC): Here is What You Need to Know

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Zacks Research raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays increased their price target on Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $520.32.

Western Digital Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $189.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74 and a beta of 2.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $560.32 and its 200 day moving average is $388.23.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 28,959 shares of company stock worth $12,631,666 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $788,729,000. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth about $221,800,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth about $350,403,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 267.6% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,691,659 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $291,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,477 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.