Key Highlights
- Western Digital posted fiscal Q3 2026 earnings per share of $2.72, surpassing the Street’s $2.39 forecast, while revenue reached $3.34B — a 45% jump from last year
- Numerous Wall Street firms increased their price objectives, with Cantor Fitzgerald leading at $660
- Shares have surged more than 160% in 2025, currently trading near $432
- Consensus analyst target of $488.24 suggests approximately 12% potential upside; 14 out of 17 analysts recommend buying
- Company projects Q4 2026 EPS between $3.10 and $3.40
Western Digital (WDC) impressed investors with its fiscal third-quarter performance, triggering a wave of positive analyst responses. Trading around $432, the stock has soared over 160% since January and sits close to its 52-week peak of $446.62.
Western Digital Corporation, WDC
The storage technology giant announced adjusted earnings per share of $2.72, exceeding the Street consensus of $2.39 by a comfortable $0.33 margin. Quarterly revenue totaled $3.34 billion, representing a 45.5% year-over-year increase and beating analyst expectations of $3.25 billion.
The impressive quarter was primarily fueled by growing demand from artificial intelligence data center applications, with hard disk drive pricing showing strength on both sequential and annual bases.
Following a momentary decline after the April 30 earnings announcement, WDC shares rebounded approximately 2% during early Monday trading as financial analysts revised their projections upward.
Gross profit margins reached 51.5%, significantly exceeding the 48.6% consensus forecast cited by Mizuho. BofA Securities observed that margins expanded by 436 basis points compared to the previous quarter.
Wall Street Raises Price Objectives
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse established the highest Street target at $660, elevated from $500, attributing the increase to robust pricing dynamics, sustained data center appetite, margin improvement, and advancements in HAMR (heat-assisted magnetic recording) capabilities.
Bernstein’s Mark Newman increased his price objective from $340 to $590, emphasizing the substantial Q3 outperformance powered by HDD demand strength and favorable pricing conditions.
Citigroup elevated its target to $500 from $405, keeping its Buy recommendation intact while underscoring persistent AI-related demand and enhanced pricing predictability.
Robert W. Baird boosted its target to $450 from $310 with an outperform stance. Barclays adjusted upward to $450 from $405. Mizuho established a $470 objective. UBS modestly raised its neutral-rated target to $375 from $350.
Argus maintained its Buy recommendation with a $500 price target, observing that the stock has generated an 870% return during the past twelve months.
The average target across 19 analysts with Buy recommendations and four with Hold ratings stands at $488.24 — suggesting roughly 12% upside potential from present trading levels.
HAMR Technology and Advanced Product Pipeline
Mizuho’s Vijay Rakesh, who ranks #4 among more than 12,000 analysts on TipRanks with a 74% accuracy record, elevated his target from $400 to $470.
Rakesh emphasized that WDC’s high-bandwidth HDD solutions — delivering 2–4x the performance of conventional drives — are currently undergoing validation testing with two clients.
He further noted that deployment of next-generation HAMR technology is now anticipated during the first half of 2027, modestly ahead of previous timelines.
For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, Western Digital provided guidance calling for EPS ranging from $3.10 to $3.40 and revenue of $3.65 billion for the period ending in June.
Institutional investors control 92.51% of outstanding shares, with significant recent positions initiated by WCM Investment Management and Norges Bank during recent quarters.
Company insiders divested approximately 72,711 shares worth roughly $19.2 million during the past 90 days, though insider ownership represents merely 0.18% of total equity.
The company maintains a market capitalization of $146.5 billion, trades at a P/E multiple of 25.79, and operates with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.
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