Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of $0.90-1.20 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $0.89. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.6-3.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.71 billion. Western Digital also updated its Q4 2024 guidance to 0.900-1.200 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Western Digital from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded up $1.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.36. 13,869,066 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,070,411. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $32.01 and a twelve month high of $76.92. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.67% and a negative net margin of 12.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.57) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Western Digital will post -2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.