Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Trading Up 1.7% – Still a Buy?

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) shares shot up 1.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $433.20 and last traded at $423.87. Approximately 6,658,993 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 8,568,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $416.97.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s latest quarterly results remain a key support: revenue grew 44% year over year, earnings exceeded expectations, margins expanded and cash generation was strong. Its first-quarter 2027 earnings outlook also implied continued substantial year-over-year growth. Western Digital rises as investors weigh strong fundamentals, debt cleanup, and a firmer storage trade
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s plan to redeem its remaining 3.00% convertible notes due in 2028 is being viewed favorably because it could simplify the capital structure and reduce future dilution. The notes became redeemable after WDC’s share price surpassed the required threshold, signaling sustained investor confidence. What’s Going On With Western Digital Stock Friday?
• Positive Sentiment: Strength in storage peers, particularly SanDisk, Micron and the broader AI-infrastructure trade, provided a favorable read-through for WDC. Investors continue to anticipate durable demand for data-center storage driven by artificial intelligence. Analysts’ recent price targets also remain generally above the current trading level. SanDisk Jumps as Storage Bid Concentrates in One Name; Western Digital Rises, Micron Ticks Up
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary comparing WDC with SanDisk highlights different exposure to HDDs and NAND flash, as well as varying margins and risks. This reinforces the long-term AI-storage opportunity but also underscores that the companies’ growth profiles are not identical. Western Digital vs. SanDisk: Which Storage Stock Is the Better Bet?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider trading data is a cautionary signal: reported open-market insider activity over the past six months consisted entirely of sales, with no purchases. In addition, WDC recently experienced a pullback and has traded below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, indicating ongoing volatility despite the improving fundamentals.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Western Digital from $900.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $590.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $630.00 target price on Western Digital in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $152.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 2.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $479.41 and a 200 day moving average of $457.05.

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

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 2.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 1,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.36, for a total transaction of $481,708.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 112,155 shares in the company, valued at $53,650,465.80. The trade was a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 1,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.87, for a total value of $825,466.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,052,185.77. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 25,437 shares of company stock valued at $11,461,345 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WDC. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 112.8% during the 2nd quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,263 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $11,026,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 480.4% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the second quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 24,252 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $15,490,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and sells data storage products and solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises, businesses and consumers. Its portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs), including high-capacity enterprise drives used in cloud and data center environments, as well as products for network-attached storage, surveillance and personal computing.

The company markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD, WD_BLACK and Ultrastar.