Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Posted by Stanley Muller on Jul 9th, 2026

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $360.00 to $500.00. The stock had previously closed at $550.30, but opened at $594.14. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Western Digital shares last traded at $600.6190, with a volume of 1,519,982 shares trading hands.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Western Digital from $500.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Fox Advisors lowered Western Digital from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Western Digital from $310.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Western Digital from $325.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $502.12.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Western Digital

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.60, for a total value of $235,699.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 116,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,640,420.80. This represents a 0.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Vidyadhara K. Gubbi sold 4,674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.19, for a total transaction of $2,071,470.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 90,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,905,270.79. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,322 shares of company stock valued at $12,768,550. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Digital News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

Positive Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its price target on Western Digital to $500 from $360, signaling improved expectations for the company’s outlook. Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Price Target Raised to $500.00 at Susquehanna
Positive Sentiment: Melius Research also turned bullish on Western Digital, reinforcing the view that memory and storage demand tied to AI could keep supporting earnings. Melius Research is Bullish on Western Digital Corporation (WDC)
Positive Sentiment: Investor chatter continues to center on Western Digital’s strong earnings momentum and AI storage tailwinds, with commentary noting several consecutive earnings beats and improving fundamentals. Western Digital Stock (WDC) Opinions on Analyst Upgrades Amid AI Storage Demand
Neutral Sentiment: Western Digital’s latest earnings report showed revenue growth of 45.5% year over year and a beat on both EPS and sales, which supports the long-term bull case but is already well known to investors.
Neutral Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reportedly reiterated a Hold rating, and Susquehanna’s new target still sits below the recent trading level, suggesting some analysts think the stock already reflects much of the optimism. Western Digital (WDC) Gets a Hold from Goldman Sachs
Negative Sentiment: Recent weakness in memory stocks after Samsung’s earnings sparked a sector-wide selloff has been a headwind, showing that sentiment around the group can still turn quickly. Western Digital Stock Drops 8.5%: Why Samsung’s Profit Surge Triggered a Tech Selloff

Institutional Trading of Western Digital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. grew its stake in shares of Western Digital by 399.8% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 32,487 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $3,900,000 after purchasing an additional 25,987 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,270,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in Western Digital by 75.4% in the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,465 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 4,068 shares during the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Western Digital during the 4th quarter worth $793,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Western Digital by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,122,095 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $193,303,000 after buying an additional 282,156 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Digital Trading Up 7.5%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $548.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $368.57. The company has a market capitalization of $203.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.26 and a beta of 2.11.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The data storage provider reported $2.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Western Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.400 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Western Digital Corporation will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Digital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.1%. This is a positive change from Western Digital’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 3.58%.

Western Digital Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.