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Western Digital Corporation (WDC), headquartered in San Jose, California, develops, manufactures, and sells data storage devices and solutions. With a market cap of $22.3 billion, the company's products include hard drives, solid-state drives, and home entertainment and networking products. The leading supplier of data storage solutions is expected to announce its fiscal third-quarter earnings for 2025 on Thursday, Apr. 24.
Ahead of the event, analysts expect WDC to report a profit of $0.85 per share on a diluted basis, up 102.4% from $0.42 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company beat or matched the consensus estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing the forecast on another occasion.
For the full year, analysts expect WDC to report EPS of $4.84, up by a robust 540% from a loss of $1.10 per share in fiscal 2024. Its EPS is expected to rise 103.7% year over year to $9.86 in fiscal 2026.
WDC stock has considerably underperformed the S&P 500’s ($SPX) 3.2% gains over the past 52 weeks, with shares down 37.9% during this period. Similarly, it underperformed the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLK) 5% loss over the same time frame.
Western Digital shares dropped due to China imposing a 34% tariff on all U.S. imports, impacted U.S. chipmakers heavily. The new tariffs may harm profit margins and market share. The Trump administration also hinted at further regulatory action against the sector. Exclusion from recent tariffs raised concerns of targeted restrictions. Additionally, competition and decreased demand for flash storage in consumer devices also impacted WDC's performance.
On Jan. 29, WDC reported its Q2 results, and its shares closed up more than 4% in the following trading session. Its adjusted EPS of $1.77 topped Wall Street expectations of $1.75. The company’s revenue was $4.29 billion, beating Wall Street forecasts of $4.25 billion. For Q3, WDC expects its adjusted EPS to range from $0.90 to $1.20, and expects revenue to be between $3.8 billion and $4 billion.
Analysts’ consensus opinion on WDC stock is bullish, with a “Strong Buy” rating overall. Out of 19 analysts covering the stock, 16 advise a “Strong Buy” rating, and three give a “Hold.” WDC’s average analyst price target is $101.22, indicating an ambitious potential upside of 113.7% from the current levels.
