Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Western Digital from “strong buy” to “buy,” though the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $534.56.
• Western Digital reported a quarterly earnings beat, posting $3.56 in EPS versus the $3.31 consensus and $3.75 billion in revenue, up 43.8% year over year. The company issued first-quarter 2027 EPS guidance of $3.85–$4.15.
• AI-driven storage demand and sector momentum support the stock, but elevated expectations, potential NAND pricing volatility and recent insider selling—including the CEO’s roughly $8.9 million sale—remain risks.

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WDC. Weiss Ratings cut Western Digital from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Trading Up 4.4%

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $508.80 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $556.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $425.47. The stock has a market cap of $175.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 2.14. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $73.14 and a 12 month high of $799.87.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Western Digital will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at $60,663,290.57. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 575,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,093 shares of company stock worth $11,650,737. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Western Digital by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Ares Financial Consulting LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $888,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Sector rally supports WDC. SanDisk’s bullish long-term growth targets, including expectations for sustained flash-memory demand, boosted sentiment toward storage companies. Western Digital benefited from the read-through, particularly as investors anticipate continued AI infrastructure spending on HDD and NAND storage. SanDisk outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and quantitative signals improved. Zacks upgraded Western Digital to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. WDC was also included among Zacks’ top momentum stocks, while JPMorgan reportedly raised its price target to $650. Zacks upgrade article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results provide fundamental support. Western Digital’s latest quarter exceeded consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising 43.8% year over year. Stronger pricing, high-capacity drive demand and AI-driven storage requirements are supporting expectations for continued growth. WDC sector rally article
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning is mixed: JPMorgan and Capital World Investors added shares, while several large investors reduced holdings. The conflicting activity does not establish a clear institutional trend.
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated expectations remain a risk. Despite the earnings beat, WDC shares previously fell sharply because management’s guidance did not exceed demanding investor expectations. Concerns remain about moderating sequential growth, NAND pricing volatility and whether the AI-driven storage cycle has peaked. WDC earnings reaction article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling may weigh on sentiment. CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for approximately $8.9 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Broader data shows substantial insider selling and no reported insider purchases during the past six months. CEO insider sale article

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.

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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