Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading 5.8% Higher - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Western Digital shares rose 5.8% on Thursday, rebounding with the broader memory sector after recent weakness. Trading volume was below average, suggesting the move came amid a renewed wave of buying rather than heavy turnover.
• The stock remains supported by the AI storage theme, with investors focused on strong data-center demand, tighter hard-drive supply, and improving pricing trends. Recent customer survey results also emphasized enterprise demand for scale, economics, and reliability in AI infrastructure.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive, with several recent buy/overweight ratings and higher price targets, including TD Cowen’s move to $500. Western Digital also reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates and raising its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) shares were up 5.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $487.29 and last traded at $486.46. Approximately 4,975,176 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 9,083,321 shares. The stock had previously closed at $459.62.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital is bouncing with the broader memory sector, as investors buy back into the group after several days of weakness. SanDisk Soars 9%, Western Digital Rallies 5%, Micron Rises 3% as Memory Trade Reawakens
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary suggests the stock is still benefiting from the “AI storage” narrative, with investors focused on strong data-center demand, tighter hard-drive supply, and better pricing trends. Western Digital jumps 4.6% as AI-storage pricing narrative stays hot after upbeat guidance and capital-structure moves
• Positive Sentiment: Customer survey results released by Western Digital highlighted growing enterprise focus on scale, economics, and reliability in AI infrastructure planning, reinforcing the company’s relevance in AI-driven storage buildouts. WD Customer Survey Highlights Growing Focus on Scale, Economics, and Reliability in AI Infrastructure Planning
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains broadly constructive, with multiple recent buy/overweight ratings and price targets above current levels, which may be helping support the stock. Western Digital jumps 4.6% as AI-storage pricing narrative stays hot after upbeat guidance and capital-structure moves
• Negative Sentiment: Earlier in the session and over the prior day, WDC had been under pressure as traders worried about a potential decline in memory chip prices from expanded production capacity in China and a broader cooling in the AI-infrastructure rally. Seagate and Western Digital Stocks Trade Down, What You Need To Know

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on WDC shares. Truist Financial set a $310.00 target price on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on Western Digital from $405.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.83.

Western Digital Stock Up 5.8%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $364.30 and a 200-day moving average of $264.52. The stock has a market cap of $167.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04 and a beta of 2.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% on a year-over-year basis. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. This is an increase from Western Digital's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Western Digital's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total value of $2,501,349.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 121,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,643,630.14. The trade was a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of Western Digital 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 107,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,137,796.14. The trade was a 8.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 53,679 shares of company stock valued at $18,049,314. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 357 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 33.3% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 132 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 4,707 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $811,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1.1% during the first quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 3,782 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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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