Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Posted by George Bondi on Aug 6th, 2026

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC – Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The data storage provider reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.25, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 42.95% and a net margin of 55.29%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 43.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS.

Western Digital Price Performance

WDC opened at $445.88 on Thursday. Western Digital has a fifty-two week low of $73.14 and a fifty-two week high of $799.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $569.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $415.61. The company has a market capitalization of $153.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66 and a beta of 2.14.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Western Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.58%.

Key Western Digital News

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

Positive Sentiment: Western Digital reported adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share on $3.75 billion in revenue, beating consensus estimates of $3.31 and $3.70 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 43.8% year over year, while profit rose sharply from $1.66 per share a year earlier. Western Digital Q4 earnings report
Positive Sentiment: Management’s fiscal first-quarter 2027 outlook was above analyst expectations, calling for EPS of $3.85-$4.15 and revenue of $4.0-$4.2 billion versus consensus estimates of $3.63 and $3.9 billion. The company also said AI customers are negotiating storage capacity commitments as far out as 2031, supporting long-term demand visibility. Western Digital AI storage demand
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion became mixed. Rosenblatt retained a Buy rating while reducing its price target to $800 from $900, and Baird raised its target to $630 with a Buy rating. In contrast, Summit Insights downgraded the shares from Buy to Hold, reflecting concerns about the stock’s already elevated expectations.
Negative Sentiment: The stock fell sharply because the earnings beat and outlook did not clear the very high bar set by its roughly threefold recent advance and the broader AI-storage trade. Investors appear concerned about the pace of future growth and margins, with some reports noting that rival Seagate delivered an even stronger quarter. Storage peers, including SanDisk, also declined, reinforcing a broader technology-sector rotation. Reuters report on Western Digital and SanDisk

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In related news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 808 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.63, for a total transaction of $427,941.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,663,290.57. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bruce E. Kiddoo sold 750 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $528.52, for a total transaction of $396,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,062,813.56. This trade represents a 16.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 5,093 shares of company stock valued at $2,751,337 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WDC. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of Western Digital by 1,926.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 3,061,134 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $195,882,000 after buying an additional 2,910,062 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in Western Digital in the third quarter valued at approximately $221,800,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Digital by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,972,703 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $512,107,000 after buying an additional 1,228,661 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $83,418,000. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its holdings in Western Digital by 532.6% during the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 593,296 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $102,207,000 after buying an additional 499,510 shares during the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Western Digital from $660.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $530.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Western Digital from $685.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Western Digital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $530.92.

Get Our Latest Analysis on WDC

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.