Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Releases Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) issued an update on its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 0.900-1.200 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.840. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.6 billion-$3.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.7 billion. Western Digital also updated its Q4 guidance to $0.90-1.20 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WDC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Digital from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Western Digital from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Western Digital from $68.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Western Digital from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Western Digital from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Western Digital Stock Up 2.8 %

WDC stock traded up $1.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $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 company has a market cap of $23.25 billion, a PE ratio of -14.36 and a beta of 1.57. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $32.01 and a 12 month high of $76.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.08 and its 200-day moving average is $55.03.

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

Insider Transactions 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 value 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Western Digital news, Director Kimberly Alexy sold 2,648 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 20,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,604.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

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.