Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Given New $430.00 Price Target at TD Cowen

Key Points

• TD Cowen lowered Western Digital’s price target from $540 to $430 while maintaining a “buy” rating; the new target implies approximately 21.4% upside from the prior close.
• Western Digital exceeded quarterly expectations with $4.64 adjusted EPS and $4.38 billion in revenue, up 55.5% year over year. Management also issued strong guidance for the next quarter, including roughly $5.1 billion in revenue and $5.80 adjusted EPS.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $599.37, although some firms have reduced targets and investors remain concerned about capital spending, supply growth and execution risks.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by TD Cowen from $540.00 to $430.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the data storage provider's stock. TD Cowen's target price indicates a potential upside of 21.40% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Western Digital from $590.00 to $770.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $615.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $668.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $599.37.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $354.19 on Friday. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $121.71 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87. The stock has a market cap of $132.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 2.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $435.48 and a 200-day moving average of $480.46.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.11 by $0.53. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 55.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Digital will post 19.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total transaction of $825,466.65. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,052,185.77. This represents a 2.18% 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 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,602,927,000. Anther Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $901,601,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $885,565,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $350,403,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 15.5% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,146,133 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $310,018,000 after buying an additional 153,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted earnings of $4.64 per share and revenue of $4.38 billion, exceeding estimates of roughly $4.09–$4.14 billion. Revenue grew 55.5% year over year, driven by data-center demand and stronger pricing. Western Digital earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s fiscal Q2 outlook was also strong, calling for approximately $5.1 billion in revenue and adjusted EPS of $5.80, plus or minus $0.20. Gross margins are expected to approach 60%, suggesting continued hard-drive pricing power. Western Digital results and guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital generated about $1.38 billion in free cash flow and raised its quarterly dividend 16.7% to $0.175 per share. Management also said AI inference, robotics and cloud workloads are supporting long-term storage demand, with visibility extending into 2030–2031. Western Digital storage demand outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish overall, but several firms lowered their price targets while maintaining positive ratings. Rosenblatt cut its target to $650 with a “buy” rating, and Cantor Fitzgerald reduced its target to $625 while retaining an “overweight” rating. Rosenblatt analyst action
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings beat failed to sustain gains as investors questioned higher capital expenditures, potential supply growth, inventory levels and execution risks surrounding the HAMR technology transition. Concerns about hyperscaler spending may be weighing on the entire AI infrastructure group.
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital is also being dragged lower by a broad AI, semiconductor and memory-stock sell-off. After a major prior rally, investors may be taking profits and demanding stronger evidence that current growth and pricing strength can persist.
• Negative Sentiment: An insider disclosed a sale of 807 shares worth approximately $306,660 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction is small relative to the insider’s remaining holdings, but it adds a modest sentiment overhang. SEC insider filing

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation NASDAQ: WDC is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.

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