In This Article:
Western Digital (WDC) closed the most recent trading day at $62.80, moving -1.97% from the previous trading session. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.54%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 1.63%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 1.63%.
Heading into today, shares of the maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers had lost 2.92% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 0.11% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.2% in that time.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Western Digital in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect Western Digital to post earnings of $1.87 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 371.01%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $4.28 billion, reflecting a 41.08% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $7.14 per share and a revenue of $16.64 billion, representing changes of +3670% and +27.99%, respectively, from the prior year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Western Digital. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 4.52% lower. Western Digital currently has 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 8.97 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.22.
The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 238, which puts it in the bottom 6% 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.