Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Down 7.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) traded down 7.4% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $361.11 and last traded at $366.11. Approximately 8,844,102 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 8,679,061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $395.41.

More Western Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of $4.38 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $4.64 and free cash flow of $1.38 billion, exceeding expectations. Management also forecast approximately $5.1 billion in fiscal second-quarter revenue and $5.80 in non-GAAP EPS, signaling continued strength in AI-related data-center storage demand. Western Digital slides as strong results fail to calm spending and sector worries
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst targets remain well above the current trading level, with Quiver Quantitative citing a six-month median target of $650. Several analysts view Western Digital as a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure expansion and rising demand for high-capacity nearline hard drives. Western Digital selloff and analyst targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital and Seagate are both benefiting from AI data-center spending. However, comparisons favor Seagate on some metrics, including return on equity, valuation and free-cash-flow generation, potentially affecting investor preference within the storage group. Seagate versus Western Digital
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are questioning whether AI infrastructure spending and lofty storage-sector valuations can remain sustainable. A sharp decline in Sandisk and weakness across memory and semiconductor stocks amplified pressure on WDC, even after Sandisk delivered strong results and raised guidance. Memory-sector selloff
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending of $227 million, continued buybacks and capacity and technology-transition needs have raised concerns about cash demands and future returns. Profit-taking after WDC’s substantial earlier advance may also be contributing to the decline. Quiver also reports 110 insider sales and no insider purchases over the past six months, an additional sentiment headwind. Western Digital spending and insider activity

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WDC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Western Digital from $720.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Western Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.04.

Western Digital Stock Down 7.4%

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $423.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $415.98. The company has a market capitalization of $137.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The data storage provider reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $4.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 69.20% and a return on equity of 55.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 55.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. Research analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 23.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1750 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 4th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Western Digital’s payout ratio is 2.33%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia Tregillis sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.00, for a total transaction of $306,660.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 108,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,392,640. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.97, for a total value of $8,899,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 575,966 shares in the company, valued at $256,287,591.02. This represents a 3.36% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,436 shares of company stock worth $11,340,064. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 28.6% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 90 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Digital by 1.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its position in Western Digital by 1.8% during the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Ares Financial Consulting LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Digital by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is a data storage technology company that develops and manufactures hard disk drives (HDDs) and related storage solutions. Its products are used in data centers, cloud infrastructure, enterprise systems, personal computers, gaming platforms and external storage devices.

The company offers HDD-based products for business and consumer applications, including high-capacity drives designed for hyperscale and cloud data centers, enterprise storage environments, network-attached storage systems and personal computing.