Western Digital Corporation
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
A repaired balance sheet ($1.6 billion in debt against $2.05 billion in cash), 50.2 percent gross margin, roughly a billion dollars of free cash flow per quarter, and a dividend raised 20 percent support holding — the hyperscaler concentration and the cyclical history are a pricing risk against this balance sheet, not a survival risk. What blocks a new purchase, after a nearly tenfold run in twelve months, is the price alone: a price-to-sales ratio around 21.6 already assumes record margins persist — not an entry point at the current price. The next reality check is the full-year results with the fiscal year 2027 outlook (late July 2026) and the hyperscalers' ordering patterns. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Western Digital is the rare case where the boom story is fully backed by SEC filings: real AI demand, record margins, a repaired balance sheet, rising payouts. But the price paid for that assumes the best hard-drive cycle in years is a permanent state — while the reported profit is mostly a paper gain, three customers carry 43 percent of revenue, and insiders are mostly selling. Not investment advice.
AI demand & pricing power
Revenue +45 percent, exabytes shipped +34 percent and price per exabyte +9 percent in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026; customers are committing earlier and for longer per the quarterly report (10-Q) — scarcity with pricing power in a three-supplier market.
Profitability
Gross margin 50.2 percent (prior-year quarter: 39.8), operating margin 35.7 percent, $978 million of free cash flow in the quarter; guidance points to 51 to 52 percent adjusted gross margin for the final quarter of 2026.
Balance sheet & capital allocation
Debt cut from $4.75 billion to $1.6 billion (mostly in exchange for Sandisk shares), $2.05 billion in cash, a $6 billion buyback program and a 20 percent dividend increase to $0.15 per quarter (June 2026).
Cyclicality & history
The same hard-drive business lost a combined roughly $1.7 billion in fiscal years 2023 and 2024; the annual report (10-K) documents underutilization and falling prices as recently as 2024 — and even during the boom, $103 million in restructuring charges hit the books (9M FY 2026).
Concentration risk
Cloud end market equals 89 percent of revenue, the top-10 customers 71 percent, three customers 43 percent (Q3 FY2026); this same hyperscaler buyer group collectively paused orders in 2023/2024 and triggered the loss years.
Valuation, paper gains & signals
Price-to-sales around 21.6 and a reported P/E around 35 (data as of July 9, 2026), with 71 percent of the nine-month profit being a Sandisk paper gain (adjusted: $2.72 instead of $8.20 per share in Q3); the $37.72 convertible note keeps diluting, and insider filings (Form 4) show 19 sales versus 1 purchase.
Worth Noting
Fiscal-year quirk: a 52/53-week year ending on the Friday closest to June 30; "Q3 2026" means January through early April 2026, and fiscal year 2026 ends July 3, 2026 (53 weeks, with a 14-week Q1 — a small assist to nine-month growth).
The Sandisk wind-down is nearly complete: as of April 3, 2026 Western Digital still held 1.7 million Sandisk shares (market value $1.19 billion) and swapped just over a million of them for its own shares in June 2026; mark-to-market effects can keep swinging reported earnings in either direction (FY 2025: minus $772 million, 9M FY 2026: plus $4.45 billion).
From November 15, 2026, Western Digital can call the 2028 convertible note early; in June 2026 it already exchanged $858.4 million of face value for cash plus shares. Daily share-price swings of 6.8 percent (data as of July 9, 2026) — this is not a low-volatility name.
Stock Watch
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 100.90 $ to 746.20 $ · Last price: 423.90 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Computer Hardware
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Digital Corporation WDC | 159.6 | 22.4 | 15.4 | 48.9 | 37.0 | 50.7 | 320.7 |
| Dell Technologies Inc DELL | 365.2 | 44.0 | 20.2 | 19.9 | 8.9 | 18.8 | 357.2 |
| Sandisk Corp SNDK | 276.8 | 55.8 | 17.7 | 71.5 | 70.0 | 10.4 | 1,618.0 |
| Arista Networks ANET | 270.3 | 67.4 | 51.4 | 63.0 | 42.7 | 28.6 | 39.7 |
| Seagate Technology PLC STX | 182.0 | 56.2 | 43.1 | 45.6 | 43.1 | 34.1 | 274.0 |
| Everpure, Inc. P | 34.6 | 162.4 | 72.5 | 69.7 | -18.5 | 15.6 | 21.2 |
| HP Inc HPQ | 31.6 | 13.2 | 8.8 | 19.7 | 7.1 | 3.2 | 30.6 |
| Super Micro Computer Inc SMCI | 27.8 | 20.0 | 9.6 | 10.8 | 6.1 | 47.0 | -10.1 |
| IONQ Inc IONQ | 15.2 | 97.6 | -10.3 | 30.9 | -401.8 | 201.9 | -38.4 |
| Median of companies shown | 159.6 | 55.8 | 17.7 | 45.6 | 8.9 | 28.6 | 39.7 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 19,093 | 1,954 | 397 | 1.34 | 3,437 | 11,418 | 29,860 |
| 2018 | 20,647 | 3,617 | 675 | 2.20 | 4,205 | 11,531 | 29,235 |
| 2019 | 16,569 | 87 | -754 | -2.58 | 1,547 | 9,967 | 26,370 |
| 2020 | 16,736 | 335 | -250 | -0.84 | 824 | 9,551 | 25,662 |
| 2021 | 16,922 | 1,220 | 821 | 2.66 | 1,898 | 10,721 | 26,132 |
| 2022 | 18,793 | 2,391 | 1,546 | 4.89 | 1,880 | 12,221 | 26,259 |
| 2023 | 6,255 | -548 | -1,684 | -5.30 | -408 | 10,964 | 24,546 |
| 2024 | 6,317 | -403 | -798 | -2.45 | -294 | 10,818 | 24,188 |
| 2025 | 9,520 | 2,334 | 1,861 | 5.18 | 1,691 | 5,311 | 14,002 |
| 2026 | 12,919 | 4,453 | 9,424 | 24.61 | 3,929 | 8,864 | 13,861 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 1.66 | – | 2,409 | 76.20 | 24.70 | 403 | 287 |
| 2025: Q1 | 1.46 | 286.10 | 2,294 | 30.90 | 22.80 | 508 | 379 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.75 | 837.50 | 2,605 | 30.00 | 9.90 | 746 | 675 |
| 2025: Q3 | 3.14 | 127.60 | 2,818 | 27.40 | 41.90 | 672 | 599 |
| 2025: Q4 | 4.73 | 184.90 | 3,017 | 25.20 | 61.10 | 745 | 653 |
| 2026: Q1 | 8.20 | 461.60 | 3,337 | 45.50 | 96.00 | 1,123 | 978 |
| 2026: Q2 | 8.23 | 997.30 | 3,747 | 43.80 | 85.30 | 1,389 | 1,281 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 9 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Backtested Scanners
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Aktien.Guide
Research
Risk & Weakness
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. Scanners marked in red are red-flag signals (risk/short scanners) — appearing there is not a seal of approval. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06/30/2027 | 20.09 | 15.76 – 23.50 | 19,192 | 96.6% | 22 |
| 06/30/2028 | 31.75 | 21.95 – 45.36 | 26,250 | 58.0% | 20 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 20.1% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $3.22B |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $159.59B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $20.07B |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 66.3% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow grew by 31.4% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Western Digital erzielt keine KI-Umsätze — die Festplatten (HDD) sind generische Massenspeicher, und KI erscheint in Geschäfts- und Quartalsberichten (10-K/10-Q) durchgängig nur als externer Nachfrage-Treiber für Cloud-Rechenzentren —, aber der Geschäftsbericht (10-K) 2025 belegt den eigenen operativen Einsatz von KI-Technologien für Geschäftszwecke (inklusive Prompt-Injection-Risiken der eingesetzten Systeme), daher „Nutzt KI".
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Separately, the AI technologies that we employ for business purposes may be vulnerable to prompt-injection or other adversarial attacks, which could result in unauthorized access to or leakage of sensitive information."
Darüber hinaus können die KI-Technologien, die wir für Geschäftszwecke einsetzen, anfällig für Prompt-Injection- oder andere feindliche Angriffe sein, was zu unbefugtem Zugriff auf sensible Informationen oder deren Abfluss führen könnte.
10-K · 2025-08-14 · View SEC filing
„Our use of AI technology may create new privacy and security risks, especially where personal data is involved."
Unser Einsatz von KI-Technologie kann neue Datenschutz- und Sicherheitsrisiken schaffen, insbesondere wenn personenbezogene Daten betroffen sind.
10-K · 2025-08-14 · View SEC filing
„The adoption of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and workloads driven by hybrid data is driving additional growth in data storage as well."
Auch die Einführung künstlicher Intelligenz („KI") und durch hybride Daten getriebene Arbeitslasten sorgen für zusätzliches Wachstum bei der Datenspeicherung.
10-Q · 2026-05-01 · View SEC filing
„As global data creation continues to accelerate, particularly in the age of AI, and as the need to store and retain data also grows, we believe HDDs will continue to remain the preferred technology for storing large volumes of data as the most economical solution to the large cloud data centers for their mass storage needs."
Da die weltweite Datenerzeugung weiter beschleunigt — besonders im KI-Zeitalter — und der Bedarf, Daten zu speichern und aufzubewahren, ebenfalls wächst, sind wir überzeugt, dass Festplatten die bevorzugte Technologie zum Speichern großer Datenmengen bleiben werden: als wirtschaftlichste Lösung für die großen Cloud-Rechenzentren und deren Massenspeicher-Bedarf.
10-K · 2025-08-14 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-05-01 · 10-Q 2026-01-30 · 10-Q 2025-10-31 · 10-Q 2025-05-02 · 10-K 2025-08-14 · 10-K 2024-08-20
Rated on July 10, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 27.3%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 38.0%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 6.4%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 62.9%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 48.9%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 31.2%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 527 m net cash
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years -5,161 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 46.3%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 0.5%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
7/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% -4.2%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 42.5%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% 9.6%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 13.6%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT -0.1x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 8
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% 211.0%
- ROCE > 15% 46.3%
- Expected return > 10% 16.1%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4, 2026 | Tregillis Cynthia L | Chief Legal Officer & Corp Sec | Sell | 432 | 451.20 | 194,918 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | Gubbi Vidyadhara K | Chief of Global Operations | Sell | 1,795 | 459.87 | 825,472 |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Tregillis Cynthia L | Chief Legal Officer & Corp Sec | Other | 700 | 441.57 | 309,099 |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Tregillis Cynthia L | Chief Legal Officer & Corp Sec | Other | 7 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Gubbi Vidyadhara K | Chief of Global Operations | Other | 1,764 | 441.57 | 778,929 |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Gubbi Vidyadhara K | Chief of Global Operations | Other | 14 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Davis Brian Scott | Chief Sales & Mrktng Officer | Other | 882 | 441.57 | 389,465 |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Davis Brian Scott | Chief Sales & Mrktng Officer | Other | 7 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Tan Irving | Chief Executive Officer | Other | 112,500 | 0.00 | – |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Streeter Stephanie A | Director | Sell | 1,600 | 455.00 | 728,000 |
The company
About the Company
Western Digital Corporation entwickelt, fertigt und verkauft Datenspeichergeräte und -lösungen auf Basis von Festplattentechnologie (HDD) in den USA, Asien, Europa, dem Nahen Osten und Afrika. Das Unternehmen bietet interne HDDs, Rechenzentrumslaufwerke und -plattformen sowie externe Laufwerke an.
- Employees
- 40,000
- Headquarters
- San Jose, CA
- Address
- 5601 Great Oaks Parkway, 95119 San Jose, United States
- Phone
- 408 717 6000
- Website
- westerndigital.com
- IPO Date
- 01/02/1987
- ISIN
- US9581021055
- Stock Split
- 1323:1000 on 02/24/2025
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 06/04/1997
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Tiang Yew Tan | CEO & Director | 1970 |
| Kris A. Sennesael | Executive VP & CFO | 1969 |
| Vidyadhara K. Gubbi | Executive VP & Chief of Global Operations | 1964 |
| Cynthia Lock Tregillis | Executive VP, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary | 1970 |
| Ahmed M. Shihab | Executive VP & Chief Product Officer | 1972 |
| C. Wesley M. Scott | Chief Investment Officer | 1947 |
| Brad D. Feller | Senior VP & Chief Accounting Officer | 1974 |
| Sesh Tirumala | Chief Information Officer | – |
| Ambrish Srivastava Ph.D. | Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
| Brian Scott Davis | Executive VP and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer | 1963 |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 09/14/2026 WESTERN DIGITAL CORP (WDC): Regulation FD Disclosure; Other Events; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/26/2026 WESTERN DIGITAL CORP (WDC): Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities; Other Events SEC ↗
- 08/05/2026 WESTERN DIGITAL CORP (WDC): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.