Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 3.1% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Western Digital shares rose 3.1% on Tuesday, trading as high as $564.14 after closing at $546.20 the prior day. Volume came in below average, with about 6.23 million shares changing hands.
• Bullish AI-storage sentiment is driving the stock, with multiple recent reports framing Western Digital as a beneficiary of rising data and memory demand tied to AI. Evercore also reportedly lifted its price target while keeping an Outperform rating.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive after strong earnings, as Western Digital beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates and raised its dividend from $0.13 to $0.15 per share. The analyst consensus is currently a Moderate Buy with a $424.33 price target.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 3.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $564.14 and last traded at $563.35. Approximately 6,228,829 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 6,874,163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $546.20.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame Western Digital as a key AI storage winner, with demand for memory and data infrastructure still accelerating. Western Digital: The AI Storage Trade Still Has Room To Run
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore reportedly raised its price target on WDC and kept an Outperform rating, adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. Here’s What Evercore Now Says About Western Digital Corp (WDC) Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage around WDC’s Computex presence emphasized that AI creates persistent data demand, supporting the investment case for storage providers. WD at Computex 2026: AI Doesn't Just Run on Compute - It Runs on Data
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital presented at the Bank of America 2026 Global Technology Conference, which likely kept investor attention on management’s outlook but did not appear to include a major new catalyst. Western Digital Corporation (WDC) Presents at Bank of America 2026 Global Technology Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent articles were more mixed or valuation-focused, including a “Hold” view despite the AI storage boom, which may temper upside expectations. Western Digital: Hold Rating Despite AI Storage Supercycle

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Western Digital from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $488.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $424.33.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.1%

The business's fifty day moving average price is $400.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $284.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.18 billion, a PE ratio of 33.63 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The business's 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. 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%. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total transaction of $2,743,105.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. This represents a 8.60% 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, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,062,813.56. The trade was a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,405 shares of company stock valued at $18,575,428. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,070.0% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 417 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its position in Western Digital by 163.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 182 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 207.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 264 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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