Copyright Barchart
Valued at $51.5 billion by market cap, San Jose, California-based Western Digital Corporation (WDC) operates as one of the largest data storage device and solutions companies in the world. It designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a broad range of HDDs used in desktops, servers, network-attached storage devices, video game consoles, etc. The HDD giant has significantly outperformed the broader market over the past year. WDC stock prices have soared 235.9% on a YTD basis and 198.8% over the past 52 weeks, notably outpacing the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 16.3% gains in 2025 and 17.7% returns over the past year. Zooming in further, the stock has also outpaced the sector-focused Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLK) 29.3% gains in 2025 and 31% surge over the past year. Western Digital’s stock prices soared 8.8% in the trading session following the release of its robust Q1 results on Oct. 30. Q1 marked a solid start for fiscal 2026. Driven by the strong demand for its data storage products and solutions in the cloud space, the company’s topline has observed a continued surge in recent quarters. Further, the constant increase in usage of AI is expected to continuously push the demand for storage solutions, creating a major tailwind for WDC. Its revenues for the quarter jumped 8.2% sequentially and 27.4% compared to the year-ago quarter to $2.8 billion, beating the Street’s expectations by 3.5%. Meanwhile, its EPS skyrocketed 137.3% year-over-year to $1.78, surpassing the consensus estimates by a large margin. For the full fiscal 2026, ending in June, analysts expect WDC to deliver an EPS of $7.55, up 53.2% year-over-year. On an even more positive note, the company has a solid earnings surprise history. It has surpassed the Street’s bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters. Among the 24 analysts covering the WDC stock, the consensus rating is a “Strong Buy.” That’s based on 19 “Strong Buys,” one “Moderate Buy,” and four “Holds.” This configuration is slightly more optimistic than a month ago, when 18 analysts gave “Strong Buy” recommendations. On Nov. 1, Wells Fargo (WFC) analyst Aaron Rakers reiterated an “Overweight” rating on WDC and raised the price target from $150 to $180. As of writing, WDC is trading above its mean price target of $124.82. Meanwhile, its street-high target of $190 suggests a 26.5% upside potential from current price levels.
