Analysts Set Expectations for Western Digital FY2025 Earnings

Western Digital Co. (NASDAQ:WDC) – Research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald issued their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Western Digital in a report released on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C. Muse expects that the data storage provider will post earnings of $5.86 per share for the year. Cantor Fitzgerald has a “Overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Western Digital’s current full-year earnings is $5.54 per share.

WDC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Benchmark downgraded Western Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Western Digital from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Western Digital from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.65.

Western Digital Price Performance

Western Digital stock opened at $68.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.40 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.11. Western Digital has a 52 week low of $52.77 and a 52 week high of $81.55.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The data storage provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Western Digital had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 48.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.97) earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Western Digital by 124.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,412 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 11,860 shares in the last quarter. Avala Global LP raised its position in Western Digital by 49.0% during the third quarter. Avala Global LP now owns 1,147,700 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $78,376,000 after purchasing an additional 377,500 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Western Digital by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 291,777 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $19,925,000 after purchasing an additional 47,965 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Western Digital by 11.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 277,010 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $18,917,000 after purchasing an additional 27,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Digital by 137.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,575 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $2,976,000 after purchasing an additional 25,262 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, EVP Robert Soderbery sold 30,767 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.01, for a total transaction of $2,092,463.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,417.98. This trade represents a 18.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gene M. Zamiska sold 1,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.94, for a total value of $139,390.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,140,723.52. This represents a 6.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,107 shares of company stock valued at $2,324,881. Corporate insiders own 0.30% 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.