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Based in San Jose, California, Western Digital Corporation (WDC), with a market cap of $25.2 billion, is a global leader in manufacturing data storage solutions for consumer electronics, enterprise servers, and connected home applications. The company is expected to release its fiscal Q4 earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, Jul. 31.
Ahead of this event, analysts expect WDC to report a profit of $0.92 per share, marking a significant increase of 142.6% from a loss per share of $2.16 in the same quarter last year. The company has consistently exceeded Wall Street's earnings expectations over the past four quarters. In the most recent quarter, the company surpassed the consensus EPS estimate by an impressive margin of 950% due to higher demand from cloud-computing customers.
For fiscal 2024, analysts foresee WDC to report a loss per share of $1.45, a 66.9% improvement from a loss per share of $4.38 in fiscal 2023. Looking forward to fiscal 2025, the company is projected to swing to profitability, with EPS up 639.3% annually to $7.82.
Western Digital has seen a remarkable 91.7% increase over the past 52 weeks, easily overshadowing both the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 25.8% gain and the S&P 500 Technology Sector SPDR's (XLK) 27.5% return over the same period.
At the beginning of this year, shares of Western Digital surged nearly 4% after its Q2 earnings, with its adjusted loss per share being significantly better than analysts' expectations. Additionally, investors responded positively to the company's strategic decision to spin off its flash memory business by the second half of 2024. Moreover, the stock gained 2.8% following its Q3 earnings results on Apr. 25, primarily due to the company exceeding expectations for both revenue and profit, driven by strong demand for its data storage products from cloud service providers.
Overall, analysts' consensus view on Western Digital stock is bullish, with a "Strong Buy" rating. Out of 21 analysts covering the stock, 17 recommend a "Strong Buy," and the remaining four give a "Hold" rating.
The above consensus is less bullish than three months ago, with five analysts suggesting a "Strong Buy." The average analyst price target for WDC is $88.72, suggesting a modest potential upside of 15.1% from the current levels.
On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
