Wedbush Equities Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC)

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) – Stock analysts at Wedbush lifted their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Western Digital in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 17th. Wedbush analyst M. Bryson now expects that the data storage provider will post earnings per share of $0.29 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.11. The consensus estimate for Western Digital’s current full-year earnings is ($2.31) per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Western Digital’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.62 EPS, FY2024 earnings at ($0.95) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.19 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.30 EPS.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.30) by $0.61. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.69) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on WDC. UBS Group raised their price target on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Western Digital from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.17.

Western Digital Stock Down 3.3 %

NASDAQ:WDC opened at $66.05 on Friday. Western Digital has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $76.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.26 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.95, for a total transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 14.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,688 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 8.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 822,281 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $56,112,000 after acquiring an additional 64,980 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $299,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Western Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 71,252 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $4,862,000 after acquiring an additional 7,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.51% of the company’s stock.

About Western Digital

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.