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Western Digital (WDC) closed the most recent trading day at $64.25, moving -0.59% from the previous trading session. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.21% for the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.16%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.89%.
Coming into today, shares of the maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers had gained 1.72% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 2.15%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.56%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Western Digital in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on January 29, 2025. On that day, Western Digital is projected to report earnings of $1.87 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 371.01%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $4.28 billion, showing a 41.08% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $7.14 per share and a revenue of $16.64 billion, signifying shifts of +3670% and +27.99%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Western Digital. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 4.52% lower. At present, Western Digital boasts a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Western Digital has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.05 right now. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 13.23.
The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 233, positioning it in the bottom 8% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.