Western Digital Raises the Stakes With New CFO and Q4 Guidance

Shares of Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) saw a handy gain early on Thursday after the company announced a new executive appointment and released updated guidance for the coming quarter to reflect the SanDisk acquisition. The company announced the appointment of Mark Long to oversee the company’s finance organization as executive vice president, finance, in addition to his role as chief strategy officer.

Long will succeed Olivier Leonetti as chief financial officer (CFO) on September 1. Leonetti is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities but will continue as CFO through this time, reporting to CEO Steve Milligan, and he will oversee the completion of the company’s fiscal year-end reporting requirements. He will continue in an advisory role to the chief executive through October 1.

Previously, Long served as the chief strategy officer at Western Digital and HGST over the past three years and will continue in that role. He played a lead role in conceiving, executing and completing the SanDisk acquisition, in addition to several other acquisitions.

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Separately the company announced its preliminary results for the fiscal fourth-quarter prior to the release of the earnings report. Reflecting the ownership of SanDisk as of May 12, the company now expects its fourth quarter revenue to be approximately $3.46 billion, compared to its earlier forecast of $3.35 billion to $3.45 billion, while earnings per share (EPS) is expected to be roughly $0.72, compared with its earlier forecast range of $0.65 to $0.70.

Thomson Reuters consensus estimates call for $3.42 billion in revenue and $0.68 in EPS for the fiscal fourth-quarter.

Milligan commented:

The company is going through a strategic and organizational transformation with the integration of our HGST and WD subsidiaries as well as integrating the recently completed acquisition of SanDisk. Although in the early stages, we are already seeing the benefits of these strategic steps. As we build on our strategy-driven focus in a tightly integrated manner, it is the right time to combine the strategy and finance organizations and Mark Long is the right leader of this integrated team, with his extensive experience in financial and strategic planning. Olivier Leonetti has made a tremendous contribution to Western Digital in nearly two years as CFO. He played a key role through the successful planning, financing and completion of the SanDisk acquisition. The company is grateful for his contribution and his continued stewardship of our finances through the fiscal year-end reporting process.

Shares of Western Digital closed Wednesday up 1.7% at $45.46, with a consensus analyst price target of $58.18 and a 52-week trading range of $34.99 to $88.46. Following the release, the stock jumped up 5.6% at $48.00 in early trading indications Thursday.

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