Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Issues Q1 2027 Earnings Guidance

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) issued an update on its first quarter 2027 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 3.850-4.150 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 3.630. The company issued revenue guidance of $4.0 billion-$4.2 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.9 billion.

Western Digital Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of WDC stock opened at $519.17 on Thursday. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $73.14 and a 12-month high of $799.87. The company has a market capitalization of $178.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $569.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $415.61.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Digital will post 9.61 EPS for the current year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on WDC shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Western Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Fox Advisors downgraded shares of Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Western Digital from $340.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Melius Research set a $1,050.00 price target on Western Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total value of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 2,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $556.24, for a total transaction of $1,376,694.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $47,366,060.96. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 5,093 shares of company stock worth $2,751,337 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Western Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported adjusted fourth-quarter EPS of $3.56, above the $3.31 consensus estimate, while revenue increased 43.8% year over year to $3.75 billion, also exceeding expectations. Profit more than11-fold from the prior-year quarter. Western Digital Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI customers are negotiating storage capacity agreements extending through 2031, suggesting strong long-term visibility for hard-drive demand tied to data-center expansion. Western Digital Says AI Customers Are Negotiating Storage Deals Through 2031
• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird maintained a Buy rating and raised its price target to $630 from $450, citing AI-supported HDD strength and improving profitability. Western Digital Earns Buy Rating as Analyst Lifts Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable September 17 to shareholders of record September 8. The approximately 0.1% yield is unlikely to be a major share-price catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: First-quarter fiscal 2027 guidance calls for EPS of $3.85–$4.15 and revenue of $4.0–$4.2 billion, both above published consensus estimates. However, investors viewed the outlook as disappointing relative to elevated expectations for AI-related growth, triggering declines across storage stocks including SanDisk and Western Digital. Sandisk and Western Digital Drag on Chip Stocks as Lofty Expectations Eclipse Strong Earnings

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $307,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Rossby Financial LCC lifted its position in shares of Western Digital by 4,818.2% during the 4th quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 541 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital during the 4th quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Western Digital by 24.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Western Digital

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.