Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.42 EPS

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The data storage provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.42, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. Western Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.45% and a negative net margin of 19.90%. The company’s revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.57) EPS. Western Digital updated its Q4 guidance to $0.90-1.20 EPS and its Q4 2024 guidance to 0.900-1.200 EPS.

Western Digital Stock Performance

Shares of WDC stock opened at $69.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.74 and a beta of 1.57. Western Digital has a one year low of $32.01 and a one year high of $76.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Digital

In other news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $185,227.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WDC. Bank of America upped their target price on Western Digital from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Western Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Western Digital from $66.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Western Digital from $58.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.32.

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.