Western Digital (WDC) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Key Points

• Western Digital is set to release its Q1 2026 earnings report on October 23, with analysts expecting earnings of $1.57 per share and revenue of $2.717 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $0.40 and a yield of 0.3%.
• Institutional investors have increased their stakes significantly, with Soroban Capital Partners LP growing its position by 1,926.3% during the second quarter.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) is anticipated to post its Q1 2026 results before the market opens on Thursday, October 23rd. Analysts expect Western Digital to post earnings of $1.57 per share and revenue of $2.7170 billion for the quarter. Individuals may review the information on the company's upcoming Q1 2026 earningreport for the latest details on the call scheduled for Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 4:30 PM ET.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 7th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter. Western Digital had a net margin of 14.13% and a return on equity of 24.93%. On average, analysts expect Western Digital to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $8 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $120.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $41.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.48. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $28.83 and a fifty-two week high of $137.40.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Western Digital's payout ratio is presently 7.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 353 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.90, for a total transaction of $28,557.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,682.50. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 14,067 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $1,051,930.26. Following the transaction, the insider owned 135,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,121,547.78. This represents a 9.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,730 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,594. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider's stock valued at $195,882,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 175.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,232,071 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $78,347,000 after acquiring an additional 784,645 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the second quarter worth $21,542,000. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 420.6% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 152,054 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $9,730,000 after acquiring an additional 122,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridiem Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 15.8% during the second quarter. Meridiem Capital Partners LP now owns 519,813 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $33,263,000 after acquiring an additional 70,796 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Western Digital from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $87.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Western Digital to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.84.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.

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