Key Points
- Insider sale: Cynthia Tregillis sold 808 Western Digital shares for approximately $428,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing her ownership by 0.70% while retaining 114,539 shares.
- Strong financial results: Western Digital reported quarterly EPS of $2.72, beating estimates of $2.39, while revenue rose 45.5% year over year to $3.34 billion. AI-driven data-center demand, tighter supply and stronger pricing are supporting the outlook.
- Analyst outlook remains positive but risks persist: The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $520.32, though investors are watching the upcoming August 5 earnings report, AI-trade volatility and growing Chinese competition.
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 808 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 114,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Western Digital Stock Performance
NASDAQ:WDC opened at $463.51 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $565.84 and its 200 day moving average is $402.35. The firm has a market cap of $159.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 2.11. Western Digital Corporation has a 52-week low of $69.30 and a 52-week high of $799.87.
Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.33. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business had revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently commented on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Western Digital from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Western Digital from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $520.32.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on WDC
Western Digital News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:
- Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure remains a major long-term growth driver. Western Digital supplies high-capacity hard drives used by cloud providers, and rising AI-generated data is supporting strong demand, tight supply and pricing power. 2 AI Stocks That Beat NVIDIA - and Could Soar Even Higher
- Positive Sentiment: Wedbush raised its price targets for Western Digital and Seagate ahead of earnings, while other analysts remain bullish. Morgan Stanley reportedly set a $650 target and Citigroup maintained an $800 target, suggesting analysts view the selloff as potentially excessive if demand and margins remain strong. Seagate and Western Digital in Focus as Wedbush Raises Price Targets
- Positive Sentiment: Investment commentary highlighted Western Digital’s strong hard-drive demand and tighter supply, reinforcing the company’s improving revenue, margins and cash-generation outlook. Western Digital Surged on Strong Hard Drive Demand and Tighter Supply
- Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s Aug. 5 earnings report is the next major catalyst. Investors will focus on gross margins, pricing, supply conditions and guidance to determine whether AI demand is still translating into higher profitability. Western Digital’s Earnings Will Test Whether Its AI Rally Has More Room
- Negative Sentiment: The broader AI memory trade is unwinding, with investors reducing exposure to chip and storage companies amid a shaky risk appetite and expectations that market volatility could persist. Western Digital has also retreated substantially from its June peak, increasing concern that valuation expectations had moved too far ahead of fundamentals. The AI Memory Trade Is Crumbling
- Negative Sentiment: China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies’ highly successful IPO and advances in Chinese AI technology are raising concerns about future competition and whether the current memory and storage supply shortage can persist. CXMT’s Blockbuster IPO Hits Memory Stocks
- Negative Sentiment: Insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares worth approximately $428,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transaction was small relative to her remaining holdings, so it is a limited but slightly negative sentiment signal.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Western Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,270,000. WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $793,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $193,303,000 after acquiring an additional 282,156 shares in the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new position in shares of Western Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,889,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 145.8% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 5,950 shares of the data storage provider's stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company's stock.
Western Digital Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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