Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Down 2.1% – Here’s What Happened

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)’s share price traded down 2.1% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $336.00 and last traded at $356.45. 12,161,706 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the average session volume of 8,652,859 shares. The stock had previously closed at $364.10.

Key Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital’s bullish case remains tied to strong AI infrastructure demand, with the company having exceeded earnings expectations in five consecutive quarters. One Wall Street analyst cited the potential for a substantial rebound after the stock’s recent decline. Western Digital Lost One Third Its Value Over 3 Months
• Positive Sentiment: Recent financial results provide support for the long-term thesis: Western Digital’s latest reported quarter beat consensus estimates for earnings and revenue, while revenue grew sharply year over year. The company also issued positive forward earnings guidance.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting Western Digital’s next quarterly earnings report, which could clarify demand trends, pricing, margins and the effect of new competition. Analyst commentary is mixed, with one analysis favoring Seagate over Western Digital while another argues that Western Digital remains attractive relative to peers. Seagate Is the Better Trade
• Negative Sentiment: Chinese memory maker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is reportedly targeting server memory with a denser chip design. Because server memory is among the industry’s most profitable segments, investors fear increased supply and pricing pressure could weaken the earnings outlook for Western Digital and other AI-related memory stocks. Memory Stocks Extend Selloff on China Competition Fears
• Negative Sentiment: Additional commentary warns that Western Digital may be nearing a cyclical top, raising concerns that strong fundamentals and AI enthusiasm are already reflected in expectations. A broader selloff in the AI trade and technology sector is adding to the pressure. Western Digital: The Fundamentals of a Cycle Top

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WDC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Western Digital from $650.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings cut Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho set a $590.00 price target on Western Digital in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $575.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $618.63.

Western Digital Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $133.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 2.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $446.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $477.28.

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

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 575,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.20, for a total transaction of $194,918.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 111,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,096,736. This trade represents a 0.39% 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 a total of 25,437 shares of company stock worth $11,461,345 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. boosted its position in Western Digital by 349.1% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 2,039 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 5.5% in the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 593 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 32.4% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,122 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $55,647,000 after purchasing an additional 21,337 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 25.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $6,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,142 shares during the period. Finally, ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 112.8% in the second quarter. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops, manufactures and supplies data-storage products and solutions. The company’s portfolio is centered on hard disk drives (HDDs) used in cloud and enterprise data centers, personal computers, network-attached storage systems and other applications that require high-capacity data storage.

Western Digital markets products under brands including Western Digital, WD and Ultrastar. Its offerings include enterprise and data-center HDDs, storage products for business and consumer systems, and related technologies designed to help organizations store, manage and access large volumes of data.

Founded in 1970, Western Digital has evolved from a maker of electronic components into a global data-storage company.