Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 1.4% Higher - Here's Why

Key Points

• Western Digital shares rose 1.4% on Tuesday, trading above the prior close as investors continued to respond to recent positive momentum in the stock.
• Recent commentary has been bullish on memory and storage stocks, citing AI-driven demand, improving pricing, and tight HDD supply conditions. Analysts remain upbeat, with some price targets implying meaningful upside from current levels.
• Western Digital recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and raised its dividend, while analysts expect fiscal 2026 results on August 5 to be an important near-term catalyst.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $589.65 and last traded at $563.32. 5,268,697 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 9,017,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $555.55.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several notes argue Western Digital and other memory stocks look attractive after the recent sell-off, citing AI demand, improving pricing trends, and lower valuations. Why You Must Buy These 4 Memory Stocks After the Recent Sell-Off
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain upbeat on WDC, with one report saying the stock could have another 30% upside because of strong demand. Why Analysts Are Betting Western Digital Stock Can Gain Another 30% from Here
• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital has also been benefiting from AI-driven storage demand and tight HDD supply conditions, which supports the longer-term earnings outlook. Why Western Digital (WDC) Is Benefiting From AI-Driven Storage Demand and Tight HDD Supply Conditions
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital plans to report fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 results on August 5, which could become a major near-term catalyst, but it is not a direct driver today. WD to Announce Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results on August 5, 2026
• Negative Sentiment: WDC was under pressure earlier in the week as a SK Hynix-driven memory sector selloff hit chip stocks, highlighting how sensitive Western Digital remains to swings in memory sentiment. SK Hynix’s record plunge drags down global chip stocks

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $520.32.

Western Digital Stock Up 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $194.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.63 and a beta of 2.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $558.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $376.88.

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

Western Digital Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.84, for a total value of $8,236,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 29,322 shares of company stock worth $12,768,550 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. increased its position in Western Digital by 399.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $3,900,000 after buying an additional 25,987 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $2,270,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 4,068 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter worth $793,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $193,303,000 after acquiring an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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