Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Down 2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Western Digital shares fell 2% in Tuesday trading, but the stock has recently been supported by bullish momentum and remains well above key moving averages, signaling a strong technical trend.
• Analyst sentiment is improving sharply: Melius Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a price target implying about 55% upside, while several other firms also raised targets and maintained bullish ratings.
• The company posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings and revenue beating estimates and revenue up 45.5% year over year; Western Digital also increased its quarterly dividend from $0.12 to $0.15.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $630.30 and last traded at $638.72. Approximately 9,216,109 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 0% from the average daily volume of 9,194,522 shares. The stock had previously closed at $651.88.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research initiated coverage of Western Digital with a Buy rating, and reports said the firm’s price target implies about 55% upside, helping fuel a sharp rally in the shares. Analysts See 55% Upside in Seagate and Western Digital Despite Chip Sector Weakness
• Positive Sentiment: Options activity reportedly skewed bullish, with roughly twice as many calls bought as puts, reinforcing the view that traders are positioning for more upside in WDC. Analysts See 55% Upside in Seagate and Western Digital Despite Chip Sector Weakness
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital was also highlighted as a strong momentum name tied to AI infrastructure demand, with momentum screens and technical trends supporting the stock’s recent strength. 3 AI Infrastructure Stocks Up 500%+ With More Upside in 2H 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary noted that WDC is trading well above its 200-day moving average, confirming a strong bullish trend, though the note was mainly technical rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Why Is Western Digital Stock Gaining Tuesday?
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader memory-chip optimism has continued across the group, with peers like Micron also benefiting from strong earnings and analyst upgrades, which is helping sentiment toward Western Digital. Why Is Micron Stock Rising Nearly 1% Overnight?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Western Digital to $495.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Melius Research set a $1,050.00 target price on shares of Western Digital and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $484.04.

Western Digital Stock Down 2.0%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $523.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $349.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13 and a beta of 2.13.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $235,699.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 116,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $788,729,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Western Digital by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $456,737,000 after purchasing an additional 402,981 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 3,407,042 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $409,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,339,225 shares during the period. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.