Western Digital’s Negatives Keep Growing
Western Digital's fiscal third-quarter financial results were underwhelming to say the least, and investors were exiting the stock all of Friday.
Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) reported its fiscal third-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Thursday. The results were underwhelming to say the least, and investors were exiting the stock all of Friday. Analysts took this chance to update their views on this stock. We have included highlights from the earnings report as well.
One thing to keep in mind when seeing these results is that the cost of 1 terabyte (TB) of storage is so low that one has to wonder how these companies make money these days with the great cloud migration.
The company said it had $1.21 in earnings per share (EPS) on $2.82 billion in revenue. That compared to consensus estimates that of $1.25 in EPS on revenue of $2.86 billion.
Also in this report, Western Digital indicated that it continues to expect to complete its planned acquisition of SanDisk in the June quarter.
The report said cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $6.03 billion, compared to $5.29 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year.
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Analysts poured into the stock as it was seen falling about 13% on Friday:
- Baird has a Neutral rating and lowered its price target to $50 from $55.
- Barclays has an Equal Weight rating and lowered its price target to $57 from $61.
- Benchmark has a Buy rating with a $94 price target.
- Cowen lowered its price target by a dollar to $45.
- Deutsche Bank lowered its price target to $68 from $74.
- Needham lowered its price target from $90 to $69.
- RBC has an Outperform rating and lowered its price target to $56 from $60.
- Susquehanna has a Positive rating but lowered its target to $80 from $83.
Shares of Western Digital were trading at $40.87 on Friday’s close, with a consensus analyst price target of $66.24 and a 52-week trading range of $38.64 to $99.93.
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Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
