Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) traded down 7.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $272.83 and last traded at $273.35. 9,681,829 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 10,057,425 shares. The stock had previously closed at $296.14.
Trending Headlines about Western Digital
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: WDC has secured multi‑year purchase commitments for high‑capacity drives into 2027–2028, improving revenue visibility for its AI/hyperscale storage business. Western Digital’s Long Contracts Recast AI Storage Growth And Valuation
- Positive Sentiment: Company fundamentals tied to AI and cloud remain supportive — analysts note accelerating high‑capacity drive shipments and next‑gen storage technology adoption by hyperscalers. Western Digital Riding on AI & Cloud Boom to Power Growth
- Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and writeups favor WDC over peers (e.g., NetApp) based on AI exposure, cash returns and growth targets — a potential tailwind if sentiment stabilizes. Western Digital vs. NetApp: Which Data Storage Stock is the Better Buy?
- Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry notes (e.g., comparisons with Micron) highlight mixed valuation and demand dynamics across memory vs. storage segments — useful context but not directly decisive for WDC’s near‑term move. Memory Prices Could Spike More Than 100%: Buy Micron Stock Here
- Negative Sentiment: Google’s TurboQuant announcement — an algorithm designed to drastically cut AI memory requirements — is being treated as a material demand risk for memory/storage suppliers and sparked an immediate market reaction. Google TurboQuant Puts Western Digital AI Storage Growth In Focus
- Negative Sentiment: Market moves: memory‑chip peers and related stocks fell after the TurboQuant news (reports show a ~6% drop across memory names), which is pressuring WDC shares despite company positives. Memory Chip Stocks Drop 6% as Google Unveils AI Efficiency Algorithm
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.58.
Western Digital Price Performance
The firm has a market capitalization of $92.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $270.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.25.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Western Digital Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.02%.
Insider Activity
In related news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.44, for a total transaction of $5,108,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 623,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,288,807.84. This represents a 3.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 121,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,643,630.14. This trade represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,795 shares of company stock worth $24,265,884. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Stance Capital LLC raised its stake in Western Digital by 2,134.1% in the fourth quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 7,462 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after buying an additional 7,128 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 56,391 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $9,715,000 after acquiring an additional 9,615 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 145.8% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 3,529 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 59,679 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $10,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,792 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.
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