Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 7.5% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Western Digital shares rose 7.5% as investors reacted to a strong earnings report and upbeat trading momentum. The stock hit as high as $525.15, with volume slightly above its recent average.
• Q3 results beat expectations, with EPS of $2.72 versus $2.39 estimated and revenue of $3.34 billion versus $3.25 billion expected. Revenue also jumped 45.5% year over year, and the company issued Q4 2026 guidance of 3.10 to 3.40 EPS.
• Western Digital boosted its quarterly dividend by 20% to $0.15 per share, signaling confidence in cash generation. Analyst sentiment remains constructive, with several firms raising price targets to $500 even though the consensus target is lower at $395.83.

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) shares were up 7.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $525.15 and last traded at $515.83. Approximately 9,595,569 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 9,329,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $480.00.

Western Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported better-than-expected Q3 results, with EPS of $2.72 versus estimates of $2.39 and revenue of $3.34 billion versus $3.25 billion expected, reinforcing confidence in the company’s operating momentum. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Soars to Record Peak on Stellar Q3 Results and Dividend Boost
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a 20% dividend increase, which signals management confidence in cash generation and may attract income-focused investors. Western Digital (WDC) Stock Soars to Record Peak on Stellar Q3 Results and Dividend Boost
• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted rising AI infrastructure spending as a tailwind for memory and storage demand, which could benefit Western Digital’s HDD and flash-storage businesses. Why These 3 High-Flying Memory & Storage Stocks Will Rise Further
• Positive Sentiment: Broader strength in the memory trade, including gains in related names like Micron and SanDisk, is lifting sentiment across the group and supporting WDC’s valuation. Western Digital rallies 7% amid AI surge in Micron and Sandisk
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage noted a sharp move in SanDisk following its spin-off, which may affect how investors compare Western Digital’s remaining business and valuation, but this is more of a market-context story than a direct company catalyst. SanDisk's 4,000% Moonshot Just Made Its Parent The Underdog
• Neutral Sentiment: A report on short interest showed zero reported short shares as of May 11, offering little actionable signal for investors. AI Dividend Increases: 3 Massive Winners Boosting Payouts (WDC)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WDC shares. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Western Digital from $335.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial set a $310.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.83.

Western Digital Stock Up 7.5%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $325.84 and a 200 day moving average of $242.16. The firm has a market cap of $177.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital'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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change 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, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 598,150 shares in the company, valued at $246,342,096. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 10,148 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $29,137,796.14. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,679 shares of company stock worth $18,049,314. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Western Digital by 12.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 52,317 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $6,281,000 after acquiring an additional 5,731 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA bought a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $641,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at $34,244,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 75.4% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 399.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.

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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