Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 1.1% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Western Digital shares rose 1.1% on the day, trading near $494 after briefly reaching $503.66, with volume below average. The move came amid continued interest in the memory-chip rally.
• AI-related demand is a key tailwind for Western Digital, as investors expect stronger memory and storage needs from data-center and AI infrastructure buildout. Recent coverage has kept WDC grouped with other beneficiaries of the memory-stock surge.
• Fundamentals and analyst sentiment remain supportive after Western Digital beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, raised its dividend, and issued upbeat guidance. Wall Street currently has a Moderate Buy consensus, though targets vary widely.

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) were up 1.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $503.66 and last traded at $494.09. Approximately 5,586,659 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 9,269,381 shares. The stock had previously closed at $488.74.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven demand for memory and storage remains a major tailwind for Western Digital, with the company benefiting from the broader buildout in data-center and AI infrastructure. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent market commentary continues to group WDC with other winners in the memory-chip rally, reflecting strong investor interest in the theme. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital was included in a sector-risk discussion ahead of a Fed leadership change, but the article focused more on macro uncertainty than on company-specific fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors are taking profits after the memory-supercycle trade cooled, causing a broad pullback in WDC and other storage stocks. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A separate report said Western Digital dropped alongside Micron and SanDisk as the memory-stock rally paused, underscoring how dependent the shares remain on sector momentum. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WDC. Mizuho set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $488.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $310.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.83.

Western Digital Price Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average is $338.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.06. The company has a market cap of $170.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.50 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 363 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.09, for a total transaction of $136,883.67. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 120,023 shares in the company, valued at $45,259,473.07. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $246,342,096. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 53,679 shares of company stock valued at $18,049,314 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 80.2% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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