Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $0.29 Per Share, Wedbush Forecasts

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) – Wedbush increased their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Western Digital in a report released on Wednesday, April 17th. Wedbush analyst M. Bryson now expects that the data storage provider will post earnings of $0.29 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.11. The consensus estimate for Western Digital’s current full-year earnings is ($2.31) per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Western Digital’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.62 EPS, FY2024 earnings at ($0.95) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.19 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.30 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on WDC. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.17.

Western Digital Price Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock opened at $68.32 on Friday. Western Digital has a twelve month low of $31.97 and a twelve month high of $76.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.58 and a beta of 1.57.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.30) by $0.61. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.69) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WDC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 93.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,663,972 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $651,948,000 after purchasing an additional 9,961,971 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 242.7% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 10,606,474 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $399,546,000 after purchasing an additional 7,511,896 shares during the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $212,900,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $150,958,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1,332.0% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,554,153 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $81,391,000 after purchasing an additional 1,445,625 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Western Digital

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.