Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Issues Q3 2026 Earnings Guidance

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) issued an update on its third quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 2.150-2.450 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.940. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.1 billion-$3.3 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.0 billion.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $250.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.78. Western Digital has a 1-year low of $28.83 and a 1-year high of $285.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $193.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.10.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 35.52% and a return on equity of 44.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 5.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WDC. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $200.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Western Digital from $200.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $94.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group set a $306.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Western Digital to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.95.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.69, for a total value of $3,013,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 645,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,265,422.23. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Roxanne Oulman sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.42, for a total transaction of $277,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,863 shares in the company, valued at $596,524.46. The trade was a 31.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 26,816 shares of company stock valued at $4,116,148 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results beat and upbeat guidance — WDC reported $2.13 EPS vs. ~$1.93 consensus and revenue of $3.02B (+25% Y/Y); management guided Q3 well above Street estimates, citing strong demand from AI/data center customers. Western Digital Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turn more bullish — several firms upped ratings/targets (Wells Fargo $335, Wedbush $325, TD Cowen to $325, Morgan Stanley, Citi maintain/raise Buy calls), reflecting expectations for sustained AI-led capacity demand and margin upside. Analyst Coverage & Price Target Changes
• Positive Sentiment: Management and CEO comments highlight AI-driven storage growth — CEO Irving Tan emphasized that AI inference is generating more data and requiring more storage, supporting ongoing demand for high‑capacity HDDs and flash. Western Digital CEO: AI inference is generating more data and requiring storage hence demand growth
• Positive Sentiment: Company to outline AI storage roadmap at Feb. 3 Innovation Day — investors have an upcoming event to get product/roadmap detail, which could provide further visibility on TAM and upside. Dear Western Digital Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for February 3
• Neutral Sentiment: Small quarterly dividend declared — WDC announced a $0.125 per‑share dividend (ex‑dividend Mar 5), a token yield that is unlikely to materially move the stock but may be noted by income investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Shares gave back gains after the initial rally — despite the beat and strong guide, intraday profit‑taking and repositioning pushed the stock down on elevated volume, suggesting some investors are booking gains after a rapid run. Western Digital Shares Give Up Gains After Earnings Beat, Strong Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Technical/positioning risks — some analysts and market pieces noted WDC was overbought ahead of results; after a big run to an all‑time high, elevated expectations increase the risk of short‑term pullbacks. Overbought Ahead of Earnings

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 24.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Western Digital by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,993 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA raised its holdings in Western Digital by 6,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 272 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.4% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,620 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.