Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Up 7.3% – What’s Next?

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) were up 7.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $502.64 and last traded at $487.29. 8,644,743 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 8,937,888 shares. The stock had previously closed at $454.10.

Western Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI demand and tight supply are supporting storage shares. An overnight rally led by Korean memory stocks, stronger neocloud results, and reports of a deepening memory shortage are reinforcing expectations for sustained demand for Western Digital’s enterprise HDDs and NAND products. Memory stocks article
• Positive Sentiment: Improving pricing and product mix could lift profitability. Higher-capacity drives, favorable pricing, lower costs, and new ePMR products are helping expand margins. Western Digital also generated approximately $3.5 billion in fiscal 2026 free cash flow, giving investors a strong cash-generation story as AI-related demand grows. Western Digital margin article
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation support remains favorable. One updated analysis increased WDC’s estimated fair value from $584.79 to $662.13, while momentum screens identified the stock as a potential 2026 outperformer. Western Digital fair value article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, although some firms have reduced price targets or maintained neutral ratings. Investors may also be looking for evidence that fiscal 2026’s strong cash flow can continue into fiscal 2027.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares for approximately $8.9 million. The sale was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represents only 3.36% of his holdings, limiting its significance, but insider selling may still weigh modestly on sentiment. Execution risks during technology transitions and the possibility of weaker storage pricing or margins remain additional concerns. SEC insider transaction filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WDC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $575.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $590.00 price objective on Western Digital in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Western Digital from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.56.

Western Digital Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $167.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13 and a beta of 2.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $558.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $423.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25. Western Digital had a net margin of 72.95% and a return on equity of 48.15%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Digital Corporation will post 18.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.48%.

Insider Transactions at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,903 shares in the company, valued at $2,062,813.56. This represents a 16.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total value of $427,941.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 114,539 shares in the company, valued at $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% 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 25,093 shares of company stock worth $11,650,737 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Western Digital by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Western Digital by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 1.8% in the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 45.5% in the second quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Digital Company Profile

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.