Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Western Digital has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 24 brokerages: 18 rate it a buy, two a strong buy and four a hold. The average 12-month price target is $520.32, though targets range as high as $1,050.
• The company’s outlook is supported by strong AI and data-center storage demand, tighter supply expectations and improving hard-drive pricing. Its latest quarter also exceeded expectations, with EPS of $2.72 and revenue of $3.34 billion, up 45.5% year over year.
• Upcoming earnings are the next major catalyst as investors assess whether AI demand and supply constraints are translating into stronger margins and guidance. Risks include memory-market volatility, potential competition from China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies and recent insider selling.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $520.32.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WDC. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Memory stocks rallied across the market, with the Roundhill Memory ETF and semiconductor indexes also advancing. Western Digital participated in the sector-wide rebound as investors returned to AI and data-center hardware names. Memory Stocks Surge. SanDisk Tops S&P 500 Gainers
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary argued that a semiconductor oversupply cycle is unlikely before 2028 because the physical infrastructure needed to create excess capacity is not yet available. That view supports continued pricing power and demand for memory and storage products. Top Chip Analyst on Semiconductor Oversupply
• Positive Sentiment: Strong demand for hard drives and tighter global supply expectations are improving the outlook for Western Digital’s revenue, margins and cash generation. Positive results from Seagate also boosted confidence in Western Digital as a storage-industry peer. Why Is Western Digital Stock Surging?
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s upcoming earnings report is the next major catalyst. Investors will assess whether AI-driven demand, pricing and supply constraints are translating into higher margins and favorable guidance; Wall Street currently expects year-over-year earnings growth. Western Digital Reports Next Week
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns remain about competition from China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies following its strong market debut, while the broader memory trade has experienced sharp volatility. These factors could pressure valuations if investors begin to expect supply growth or weaker pricing.
• Negative Sentiment: Western Digital insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 808 shares worth approximately $428,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale represented only 0.70% of her holdings, making it a limited negative signal. Western Digital Insider Sale

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,767 shares of company stock worth $4,822,807 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,884,000 after acquiring an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its stake in Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,062 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $512,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,661 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,809,409 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $483,977,000 after acquiring an additional 159,167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $533.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.73 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital has a one year low of $73.14 and a one year high of $799.87. The business's fifty day moving average price is $566.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $406.62.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Western Digital will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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