Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Mizuho Analyst Says

Key Points

• Mizuho raised its price target on Western Digital to $340 (outperform), implying about 17% upside, and other firms have also lifted targets leaving a consensus of Moderate Buy with an average target of $262.25.
• Western Digital beat earnings expectations (Q EPS $2.13 vs. $1.93 est) with revenue up 25.2% YoY, and management announced a $4 billion buyback plus an AI‑focused product roadmap (100+ TB HDDs), providing near‑ and longer‑term catalysts for the stock.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by research analysts at Mizuho to $340.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the data storage provider's stock. Mizuho's target price would suggest a potential upside of 17.14% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $135.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Western Digital from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $240.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $262.25.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $290.24 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $98.40 billion, a PE ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.80. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $28.83 and a 12 month high of $296.50.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 41.53%. Western Digital's revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 1,768 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $272,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,585 shares in the company, valued at $552,090. The trade was a 33.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 2,801 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.57, for a total transaction of $449,756.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 144,596 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,217,779.72. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,816 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,348. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $5,196,484,000 after acquiring an additional 243,177 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $593,045,000 after acquiring an additional 186,030 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $791,317,000. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.5% during the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,535,972 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $354,247,000 after purchasing an additional 431,419 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,805,463 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $456,884,000 after purchasing an additional 384,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes an additional $4 billion buyback — management flagged capital return and confidence in the valuation, a direct support for the stock and EPS accretion that pushed shares up in early trading. Western Digital adds $4 billion to buyback plan as AI boosts memory chip sales
• Positive Sentiment: Innovation Day: WD unveiled a roadmap toward 100+ TB HDDs and AI‑optimized drive features — product-era relevance for hyperscalers and data lakes strengthens long‑term TAM and margin improvement potential. Western Digital Accelerates Storage Innovation for AI Era
• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings/guidance backdrop and sector momentum — coverage citing robust results and AI‑driven demand for memory/storage supports repeat buying from institutions and analysts. ‘All Boats Are Rising’ in Data and Memory, Says Western Digital’s CFO
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — Citigroup upgraded/raised its target and other sell‑side notes flag upside, reinforcing investor demand and validating management’s buyback. Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/regulatory context — U.S. plans to rebuild critical‑minerals supply chains outside China are unfolding; this is a long‑term supply‑chain factor that could help the broader memory/storage complex but is not an immediate earnings driver for WDC. Trump administration presses efforts to ensure supply of critical minerals outside of China
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry rotation theme: market commentary frames a “memory supercycle” and the SanDisk spin‑out as supporting demand for both flash (SanDisk) and high‑capacity HDDs (WDC); this is constructive for WDC structurally but is a thematic (rather than single‑quarter) tailwind. The Memory Supercycle Is Here—2 Winners From 1 Breakup
• Negative Sentiment: Volatility and rotation risk from SanDisk’s huge moves — extreme swings in SanDisk (the spun‑off flash business) can create short‑term sentiment-driven volatility across memory stocks, which could cause intermittent pullbacks in WDC despite solid fundamentals. Sandisk’s Swings Are Getting Bigger - Here’s How to Play Them

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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