Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Western Digital gapped up sharply ahead of trading after a sector-wide rally, with optimism fueled by Micron’s strong results and guidance, which reinforced the AI memory-demand narrative.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on the stock, citing Western Digital’s AI-driven HDD roadmap, cloud demand, and recent earnings estimate upgrades. Several firms raised price targets, including Citigroup to $685, though the consensus rating is still only Moderate Buy.
• The company posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.72 and revenue of $3.34 billion, and it also raised its dividend to $0.15 per quarter. However, some commentary warns the stock could be volatile after its big run if memory-sector enthusiasm fades.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $643.83, but opened at $729.00. Western Digital shares last traded at $672.8550, with a volume of 2,199,111 shares.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Micron’s strong quarterly results and upbeat guidance triggered a sector-wide relief rally, boosting Western Digital as investors bet the AI memory boom will support higher pricing and demand. Micron's Blowout Q3 Report Ripples Through Memory Stocks SanDisk, Western Digital
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary are highlighting WDC’s AI-driven HDD roadmap, rising cloud demand, and upward earnings estimate revisions, which support the case for further upside. Western Digital vs. NetApp: Which Data Center Stock is the Smarter Bet?
• Positive Sentiment: A technical “hammer” chart pattern is being interpreted as a sign that Western Digital may have found support after a recent pullback, hinting at a possible near-term reversal. Here’s Why Western Digital (WDC) Is a Great 'Buy the Bottom' Stock Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Some articles are cautioning that after a huge run, WDC could face volatility or a reversal if memory-sector enthusiasm cools, even though the broader setup remains constructive. Soaring Western Digital stock faces some major risks: is a reversal coming?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $450.46.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $507.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.36. The company has a market cap of $235.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.79 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is 3.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at $63,640,420.80. This trade represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 229.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Western Digital by 55.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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.