Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.90-1.20 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.89. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.6-3.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.71 billion.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock traded down $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $69.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,149,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,006,783. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.68. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $32.01 and a 1 year high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.57) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $73.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.