Western Digital Corporation WDC

The bottom line

What moves this stock is the price and volume of data-center hard drives: $4.38B quarterly revenue, 55% annual growth, $1.78B net income and $1.38B free cash flow. A P/E near 12.9 versus a 39 sector median implies the market doubts these peak earnings persist, while the average analyst target sits at $613 against a $366 close. The central tension is cyclicality — as article 1 notes, one capacity expansion decision can turn shortage into glut. The balance sheet is net cash ($1.31B vs $0.79B debt), but volatility is high (beta 2.17) and the stock sits 54% below its peak, at 35% of its 52-week range.

An explanation of the mechanics from the facts on this page, not advice.

What the company does

Western Digital Corporation is a large-cap company in the Technology sector (Computer Hardware), with a market value of $137.0B, based in the USA.

It employs about 40,000 people and has been listed since Jan 02, 1987.

Western Digital Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of data storage devices and solutions based on hard disk drive (HDD) technology in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers internal HDDs, data center drives, data center platforms, external drives, portable drives, NAS for home and office, and accessories. It sells its data storage devices and solutions through its computer sales personnel, dealers, distributors, retailers, and subsidiaries.

Cheap or expensive? relatively cheap

Its price-to-earnings (P/E) is 12.9 versus 39.0 for the median of the Technology sector in our universe (65 companies) — relatively cheap.

Revenue is growing 56% versus the same quarter last year.

On analysts' next-year forecasts the multiple rises to 16.3 — they expect lower earnings.

The average analyst price target is 613.38, 68% above the current price (their view, not ours).

The stock sits at 35% of its one-year range (0% = the low, 100% = the high).

The risks

• • The stock is more volatile than average (beta 2.2) — big daily moves both ways.
• • The stock is 54% below its one-year high.

Strengths

• ✅ Profitable — 41 of every 100 dollars of revenue stays as profit.
• ✅ Generates free cash flow — profit becomes cash in the bank.
• ✅ More cash than debt.
• ✅ Most analysts rate it buy (21 vs 0).
• ✅ Revenue is growing 56% a year.
• ✅ Pays a dividend (0.1% a year).

What the market is talking about this week

A record AI-driven storage quarter, set against the question of how long drive pricing holds.

• Western Digital reported quarterly revenue of $4.38 billion, up 55% year over year and 17% sequentially, driven by AI storage demand. [3] [5]
• Non-GAAP EPS reached $4.64, up 161% year over year; gross margin rose to 57.8%, an increase of 14.3 percentage points. [3] [5]
• Management guides to about $5.1 billion revenue next quarter, roughly 16.4% above the reported quarter; free cash flow was $1.38 billion. [3] [5]
• A screener article flags a risk: if an existing or new player builds new plants, today's drive shortage could turn into a glut and erode pricing. [1]
• Rival Seagate reported $4.23 billion revenue (+61%) and $7.68 EPS, and guides to $4.8 billion next quarter. [2] [5]

A summary of the articles below only, each point with its source. Not a forecast, not a recommendation.

What to watch

• The next quarterly report and whether revenue actually reaches the roughly $5.1 billion management guided to. [3] [5]
• Gross margin: it rose to 57.8%; any decline would signal weakening pricing power in drives. [3] [5]
• Announcements of new capacity in the storage industry — the article flags this as what could turn a shortage into a glut. [1]
• Seagate's results and guidance as a comparison gauge for demand and pricing in the same market. [2] [5]

What changed this week

Over the past week the stock rose 6.5% (for comparison: S&P 500 -0.6%, sector ETF XLK -2.0%).

This week's news

• 3 AI Infrastructure Stocks Retail Investors Are Watching After Google Search Shift finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-31
  An AI-infrastructure screener features Western Digital, citing about $14.5B of hard-drive revenue and a $148B market cap, and warns a shortage could flip to a glut. source ↗
• Should Investors Buy Seagate's Shares After Q1 Earnings Momentum? finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-30
  A piece on Seagate: $4.23B revenue, 57.8% non-GAAP gross margin, $1.48B free cash flow; Western Digital is named a competitor, up 163% over the past year. source ↗
• The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Western Digital and Seagate Technology finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-30
  A Zacks analyst-blog digest comparing Western Digital and Seagate after earnings, listing both companies' revenue, margins and guidance. source ↗
• Sandisk Reports Another Big Earnings Beat. Investors May Have Wanted More. finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-29
  Sandisk posted another earnings beat, but its stock fell about 3% in after-hours trading. source ↗
• Western Digital vs. Seagate: Best AI Stock to Buy After Earnings finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-29
  A head-to-head of Western Digital and Seagate: $4.38B vs $4.23B revenue, $4.64 vs $7.68 EPS, and $5.1B vs $4.8B next-quarter guidance. source ↗
• Hot takes on hot wings, the state of the running shoe market, and Microsoft's recent quarter finance.yahoo.com · 2026-10-29
  A Yahoo Finance video segment on Google, Microsoft and the running-shoe market; it does not mention Western Digital. source ↗

What changed since last week

This is the first summary for this stock; from next week this section shows what changed.