Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Down 5.4% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s stock price traded down 5.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $518.28 and last traded at $519.17. 8,904,723 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 0% from the average session volume of 8,904,478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $548.56.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect approximately $3.30 in earnings per share and $3.7 billion in revenue, both above the year-ago period. Strong results or an upbeat forecast could support the stock by confirming continued demand for data-center storage. Western Digital Earnings Are Imminent; These Most Accurate Analysts Revise Forecasts Ahead Of Earnings Call
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is described as entering the quarter with strong momentum, including improving balance-sheet leverage and indications that portions of its storage capacity are effectively sold out. Those conditions could strengthen pricing and margins if demand remains robust. Western Digital: Sold Out, De-Levered, And Walking Into FQ4 With Momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on three issues in the earnings release: enterprise and AI-related storage demand, profitability and management’s guidance for the next quarter. The results may produce significant volatility because the market is looking for evidence that the AI buildout can sustain growth. Western Digital Q4 Earnings Today – 3 Things Investors Are Watching
• Negative Sentiment: WDC has already risen more than 222% this year, leaving elevated expectations and increasing the risk of profit-taking if earnings, guidance or AI-related commentary fall short. Analysts and options traders are consequently anticipating a wide range of possible post-earnings outcomes. Western Digital Stock Is Up 222% YTD — Should You Buy Ahead of Tomorrow’s Q4?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WDC. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $450.00 to $620.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Western Digital from $488.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $520.32.

Western Digital Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $569.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $413.52. The stock has a market cap of $178.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. The trade was a 0.70% 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, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total value of $1,376,694.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,093 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,337. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Western Digital by 7.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 3,019 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Western Digital by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 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.