Western Digital (WDC) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) will be announcing its earnings results after the market closes on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.21 per share for the quarter. Investors that are interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.30) by $0.61. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.69) earnings per share. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Western Digital to post $-2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $69.92 on Wednesday. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $31.97 and a 1-year high of $76.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.81 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James downgraded Western Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.