Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Western Digital hit a new 52-week high, with shares trading as high as $529.92 and finishing up 8.9% on the day. The move was driven by a broader rally in memory and storage stocks tied to renewed enthusiasm for the AI memory trade.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, beating analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue. Western Digital also raised its Q4 2026 guidance, reinforcing optimism around demand for its data storage products.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mostly positive, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus and several firms lifting price targets. Western Digital also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share, though insider selling was noted in recent filings.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $529.92 and last traded at $524.24, with a volume of 1949230 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $484.28.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is benefiting from a sharp sector-wide rally in memory and storage stocks, with investors repricing the AI memory trade higher after Micron’s surge. Not Just Micron: Memory Melt-Up Pulls SanDisk Up 8%, Western Digital Up 10%
• Positive Sentiment: The company recently highlighted post-quantum cryptography in its high-capacity Ultrastar UltraSMR hard drives, reinforcing its role in next-generation AI infrastructure and data center storage. Is Western Digital (WDC) the Best Performing Data Center Stocks So Far in 2026?
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage commentary remains constructive overall, with media coverage noting that analysts’ average recommendation is favorable, though such ratings have been mixed in their predictive value. Brokers Suggest Investing in Western Digital (WDC): Read This Before Placing a Bet
• Negative Sentiment: One recent report noted insider selling of Western Digital shares, which can sometimes weigh on investor sentiment even if the dollar amount is modest. Insider Selling: Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC Insider Sells $48,640.22 in Stock

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WDC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. New Street Research set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $406.42.

Western Digital Trading Up 8.9%

The firm has a market cap of $181.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49 and a beta of 2.10. The company's fifty day moving average price is $377.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.52.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 2.99%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 90,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,905,270.79. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,347 shares of company stock worth $17,974,293. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,317 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $6,281,000 after acquiring an additional 5,731 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the third quarter worth $641,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at about $34,244,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. increased its holdings in Western Digital by 399.8% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 25,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in Western Digital by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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.

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