Wall Street Zen Upgrades Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital to “strong buy,” joining Zacks Research. Overall analyst sentiment remains positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and average price target of $534.56.
• Western Digital reported quarterly EPS of $3.56 and revenue of $3.75 billion, beating estimates, while revenue rose 43.8% year over year. Growth was driven by AI-related cloud-storage demand and higher-capacity hard drives.
• Despite strong results, the stock has faced pressure after a sharp AI-driven rally, as investors viewed the company’s margin outlook as insufficiently strong; recent insider activity has also been dominated by selling.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Zacks Research upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Western Digital from $800.00 to $740.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $434.30 on Friday. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $73.14 and a 1-year high of $799.87. The business's 50 day moving average is $565.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $417.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,366,060.96. This trade represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 5,093 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,337 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth $2,270,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $193,303,000 after purchasing an additional 282,156 shares during the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $20,889,000. World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 145.8% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 342,516 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $59,040,000 after purchasing an additional 131,247 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $3.75 billion, up about 44% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share—both ahead of Wall Street expectations. Growth was supported by AI-related cloud storage demand, stronger pricing, and higher-capacity hard-disk drives. Western Digital Q4 Earnings Beat as Revenue Jumps 44% on Cloud Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted strong visibility into AI-storage demand, with some customers negotiating capacity commitments through 2031. The company also expects continued margin expansion, while analysts remain broadly constructive; recent price targets include $630 from Baird and a $575 median across 15 analysts. Western Digital Says AI Customers Are Already Negotiating Storage Deals Through 2031
• Neutral Sentiment: The selloff is part of a broader rotation within semiconductor and memory stocks. Investors have been shifting toward AI networking leaders, while comparing Western Digital’s results with stronger results from rival Seagate Technology. Western Digital Slumps Despite Q2 Beat as Analysts Highlight Peer Seagate’s Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable September 17 to shareholders of record September 8. The dividend provides a modest shareholder return but is unlikely to drive the near-term trading reaction.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors viewed fiscal-first-quarter 2027 gross-margin guidance of 55%–56% as insufficiently strong after the stock’s dramatic advance and elevated expectations. Although the outlook implies sequential improvement, it trailed the bar set by Seagate and was interpreted as evidence that the recent margin expansion may be stabilizing. Western Digital Shares Fall as Margin Outlook Tempers Strong Q4 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking intensified because Western Digital had already rallied sharply on the AI-storage theme. The strong earnings beat therefore failed to exceed the market’s unusually high expectations, prompting a valuation reset and technical concerns around support levels. Sandisk, Western Digital Drag on Chip Stocks as Lofty Expectations Eclipse Strong Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity has been heavily tilted toward selling, with 129 sales and no purchases over the past six months. While such transactions may reflect diversification or compensation, the lack of insider buying adds to near-term investor caution.

About Western Digital

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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