Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.90-1.20 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.89. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.6-3.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.71 billion. Western Digital also updated its Q4 2024 guidance to 0.900-1.200 EPS.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Western Digital stock traded up $1.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $71.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,869,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,070,411. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.96. Western Digital has a one year low of $32.01 and a one year high of $76.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The data storage provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 12.87% and a negative return on equity of 13.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.57) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Digital will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $72.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Western Digital from $50.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total value of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Western Digital Company Profile

Western Digital Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, rest of Asia, and internationally. It offers client devices, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) for desktop and notebook personal computers (PCs), gaming consoles, and set top boxes; and flash-based embedded storage products for mobile phones, tablets, notebook PCs, and other portable and wearable devices, as well as automotive, Internet of Things, industrial, and connected home applications.