Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.23 EPS

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a negative net margin of 3.75% and a negative return on equity of 2.63%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.97) earnings per share. Western Digital updated its Q2 guidance to $1.75-2.05 EPS and its Q2 2025 guidance to 1.750-2.050 EPS.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock traded up $3.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.45. 17,644,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,179,462. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 1.39. The business's 50-day moving average is $65.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.32. Western Digital has a 12 month low of $35.62 and a 12 month high of $81.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on Western Digital from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Summit Insights downgraded Western Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Western Digital from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Western Digital from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.09.

Insider Activity

In other Western Digital news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total value of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 896,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David Goeckeler sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.32, for a total transaction of $5,274,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 896,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,051,021.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 12,154 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.09, for a total transaction of $693,871.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,331,098.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 92,955 shares of company stock worth $6,327,560. Insiders own 0.28% 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.