Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 5.3% – Here’s Why

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares traded up 5.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $548.60 and last traded at $536.01. Approximately 9,068,138 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 8,943,769 shares. The stock had previously closed at $508.80.

Key Headlines Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Industry-wide memory bottleneck: Elon Musk’s comments about tightening memory availability helped lift storage and memory stocks, including Western Digital. The move also reflects stronger expectations for AI infrastructure and data-center demand. SanDisk Rallies 8%, Western Digital Rises 6%, Micron Gains 5% as Elon Musk Flags a Memory Bottleneck
• Positive Sentiment: Political and sector catalyst: A Motley Fool report said comments from President Trump provided a significant boost to Western Digital, adding to the stock’s positive momentum, although the report headline does not specify the precise policy or statement involved. Why Western Digital Stock Popped Today
• Positive Sentiment: Better earnings outlook: Rising analyst earnings estimates are supporting the shares. Western Digital is entering fiscal 2027 with strong storage demand, improved pricing and AI-driven cloud growth expected to aid its hard-disk-drive recovery. Can Western Digital Run Higher on Rising Earnings Estimates? Can Strong End Markets and Pricing Tailwinds Keep WDC’s Momentum Alive?
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail promotion: Amazon’s price reduction and clearance of a WD 5TB My Passport portable drive may increase product visibility, but it is unlikely to materially affect Western Digital’s financial results or valuation. Amazon Clears Out WD 5TB My Passport Portable External Hard Drive After a Sudden Price Drop
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade: Wall Street Zen lowered its rating on Western Digital, creating a counterweight to the favorable demand and earnings narrative. Western Digital Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WDC. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on Western Digital from $610.00 to $732.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Mizuho set a $590.00 price target on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $556.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.77. The firm has a market cap of $184.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 48.15% and a net margin of 72.95%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 3.850-4.150 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total transaction of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,093 shares of company stock valued at $11,650,737 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,988 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Western Digital by 229.7% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,388 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the second quarter valued at $307,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $292,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 55.3% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,374 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 845 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.