Western Digital (WDC) and Its Peers Head to Head Analysis

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) is one of 83 public companies in the “Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Western Digital to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Western Digital and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Digital	$14.48 billion	$9.42 billion	12.16
Western Digital Competitors	$26.02 billion	$4.07 billion	4.81

Western Digital’s competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Western Digital. Western Digital is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.5% of Western Digital shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 51.6% of shares of all “Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Western Digital shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.0% of shares of all “Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Western Digital has a beta of 2.27, meaning that its stock price is 127% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Digital’s competitors have a beta of 1.74, meaning that their average stock price is 74% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Western Digital pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital pays out 2.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 27.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Western Digital and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Digital	69.20%	55.62%	33.13%
Western Digital Competitors	-92.27%	-29.83%	7.83%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Western Digital and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Digital	0	5	21	2	2.89
Western Digital Competitors	1121	4404	7821	381	2.54

Western Digital currently has a consensus target price of $591.04, indicating a potential upside of 88.64%. As a group, “Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals” companies have a potential upside of 58.81%. Given Western Digital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Western Digital is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

Western Digital beats its competitors on 12 of the 15 factors compared.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) develops and supplies hard disk drives (HDDs) and related data-storage products. Its drives serve data centers and cloud providers, as well as businesses and consumers who need storage for computers, network-attached storage systems, surveillance and other applications. Its product brands include WD and Ultrastar. Founded in 1970, the company began as an electronics and semiconductor business before expanding into data storage. In February 2025, Western Digital completed the separation of its flash-memory business into the independently traded SanDisk Corporation, leaving Western Digital focused on HDDs.