Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Down 13.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Western Digital shares fell 13.2% on Friday amid a broader selloff in memory and storage stocks after a strong post-earnings run-up cooled. Trading volume spiked to more than 23 million shares, well above the normal average.
• Despite the pullback, recent news remains constructive for the sector: Micron’s strong results and Apple’s concerns about rising memory costs both reinforce expectations for tight supply and stronger pricing in memory chips.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on Western Digital, with several firms raising price targets into the $650-$685 range after the company beat earnings and revenue estimates and issued upbeat guidance for Q4 2026.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) traded down 13.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $579.51 and last traded at $586.45. Approximately 23,264,743 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 154% from the average daily volume of 9,168,826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $675.39.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Micron’s strong earnings and bullish outlook reinforced the AI memory shortage narrative, which has been a major tailwind for Western Digital and the broader storage complex. Western Digital Stock And Seagate Get Boost From Big Micron Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s reported concern about rising memory costs adds another signal that supply remains tight, supporting the idea that Western Digital can benefit from stronger pricing and demand. Apple Just Handed These 4 Memory Stocks Their Best News of the Year
• Neutral Sentiment: Roundhill’s memory ETF coverage highlighted that SK Hynix plans to list on Nasdaq on July 10, another reminder that investor attention is clustering around the memory-chip space. Is the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) a Buy Before July 10?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame WDC as a leveraged beneficiary of AI storage demand, but also note that the stock has already had a massive run, which may lead to choppy trading around pullbacks. Micron's Robust Q3 Results Raise Investor Attention on These 3 Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Friday’s sector-wide selloff hit memory and storage stocks after the post-earnings rally cooled, with WDC giving back some of its recent gains alongside Micron and SanDisk. MU, SNDK, WDC: 3 Key Reasons Why Memory Stocks Are Falling Today

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WDC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $450.46.

Western Digital Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $513.57 and a 200-day moving average of $342.93. The company has a market cap of $202.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.01 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The company'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. Research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 853.8% during the 1st quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 124 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Western Digital by 33.3% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 80.2% in the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 146 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 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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