Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.42 EPS

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.42, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 19.90% and a negative return on equity of 19.45%. Western Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.57) EPS. Western Digital updated its Q4 guidance to $0.90-1.20 EPS.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WDC traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $69.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,154,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,002,463. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Western Digital has a 1 year low of $32.01 and a 1 year high of $76.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WDC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’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 value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.