Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Stock Price Up 3.5% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Western Digital shares rose 3.5% on Friday, trading as high as $483.66 as the stock benefited from renewed enthusiasm around the AI-memory supercycle and stronger demand for storage tied to data centers and AI infrastructure.
• Analyst sentiment remains bullish: Zacks upgraded the stock to strong buy, and several firms raised price targets, including Cantor Fitzgerald at $660, while MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• Recent fundamentals were solid, with the company beating quarterly EPS and revenue estimates and reporting 45.5% year-over-year revenue growth; Western Digital also lifted its quarterly dividend by 20% and guided for Q4 2026 EPS of 3.10 to 3.40.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) shot up 3.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $483.66 and last traded at $480.0860. 7,525,233 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 9,321,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $463.91.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Shares are getting a lift from the broader AI-memory supercycle trade, as investors expect accelerating demand for storage and memory products tied to data centers and AI infrastructure. Micron Rockets 11%, SanDisk Rallies 11%, Western Digital Up 3% on AI Memory Supercycle Bull Case
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Western Digital from hold to strong buy, reinforcing the bullish momentum view and suggesting further upside if earnings revisions continue improving.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have been raising price targets on the back of strong AI storage demand, while recent earnings-related commentary has highlighted Western Digital’s improving fundamentals and momentum.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles also noted Western Digital’s share-swap plan to unwind its remaining SanDisk stake, which should simplify the company’s structure over time but is more of a strategic cleanup than an immediate earnings catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also increased its quarterly dividend by 20%, though that move is being viewed more as a capital-return update than a major driver of the stock today.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Western Digital to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.83.

Western Digital Stock Up 3.5%

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $325.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.10.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 55.29% and a return on equity of 42.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid 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 $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total transaction of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.31, for a total value of $2,743,105.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at $29,137,796.14. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,679 shares of company stock valued at $18,049,314. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WDC. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter worth about $791,317,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $788,729,000. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,923.9% during the third 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 last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter worth about $221,800,000. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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