Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.38 EPS

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The data storage provider reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.38, FiscalAI reports. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital updated its Q4 2026 guidance to 3.100-3.400 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Western Digital’s conference call:

• WD reported a strong quarter with $3.3B revenue (+45% YoY), $2.72 EPS (≈+97% YoY), 50.5% gross margin, and 222 exabytes shipped (+34% YoY), all above guidance.
• Management sees AI-driven secular tailwinds — agentic AI, inference, synthetic and physical AI — driving persistent storage needs and expects >25% long‑term exabyte CAGR.
• Product roadmap momentum — 40TB EPMR on track for H2 CY2026 volume, 44TB HAMR in qualification with four customers, and expanding UltraSMR adoption across major customers.
• Financial position strengthened — monetized SanDisk to cut ~$3.1B debt, achieved investment‑grade upgrades, ended with net cash ≈$450M, generated ~$978M free cash flow, raised dividend 20% and repurchased $752M of stock.
• HAMR is still in customer qualification with no explicit shipment share targets and ongoing yield/reliability work, creating execution risk and a phased adoption timeline for higher‑density supply.

Western Digital Stock Up 5.3%

WDC traded up $21.76 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $434.52. 11,400,055 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,454,714. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $314.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.19. The company has a market cap of $147.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.77. Western Digital has a one year low of $43.60 and a one year high of $441.99.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: WDC beat Q3 estimates (EPS $2.72 vs. ~ $2.34–2.41) and reported revenue growth of ~45%, with conference materials and a slide deck available — results underpin the rally and justify re-rating on stronger profitability. MarketBeat Press Release / Slide Deck
• Positive Sentiment: Management guided Q4 EPS to $3.10–3.40 and revenue roughly $3.6–3.8B, above consensus — signaling sustained pricing power from enterprise AI storage demand. Reuters: WDC forecasts revenue above estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Peer signals: SanDisk and Seagate also flagged strong AI-related demand and higher revenue outlooks, giving sector-level validation that hyperscaler capex is driving near-term HDD/SSD consumption. Reuters: SanDisk joins peers signaling AI demand
• Positive Sentiment: Sector momentum from Seagate’s blowout results lifted investor appetite for WDC ahead of and after the print — reinforcing a near-term “picks-and-shovels” trade into storage suppliers. 247WallSt: HDD trade lifts WDC & STX
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive (some raised price targets; institutional notes like Bank of America were bullish), but consensus estimates were elevated into the print — meaning future upside depends on execution and whether demand stays strong. Barchart: Analysts bullish ahead of earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and upbeat guidance, some traders sold into the news — headlines and TV coverage called it a “buy the rumor, sell the news” episode after WDC’s large prior gains, producing intraday pullbacks. MarketWatch: Stock slides despite earnings beat
• Negative Sentiment: Several outlets noted late-day slips and profit-taking after the print; elevated valuation and very large short- and long-term moves increase volatility risk for investors entering new positions now. Yahoo Finance: Stock slips late despite beat

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WDC shares. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Western Digital to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Western Digital from $325.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Western Digital news, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 8,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.32, for a total transaction of $2,174,815.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,347,148.32. The trade was a 7.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 92,711 shares of company stock valued at $24,300,404. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Western Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $307,000. Ironwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 108.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,745 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,028 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.