Analyst Consensus ?
ConsensusBuy59 ratings
Bullish4372.9%
Neutral1525.4%
Bearish11.7%
1 unmapped firm rating excluded from the percentages.
Western Digital Corporation · WDC · FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q2 2026
Western Digital Beats on AI-Driven Cloud Demand as Margins Expand
Western Digital Q3 FY2026 results reinforce the AI-driven storage thesis. Revenue grew 45 percent YoY to 3.3 billion with cloud at 89 percent of sales, gross margin expanded 1,040 basis points to 50.5 percent, and EPS more than doubled to 2.72, beating the consensus estimate by 14 percent. The SanDisk share monetization reduced debt by 3.1 billion and earned an investment-grade rating upgrade, materially strengthening the balance sheet. Management roadmap of 44-TB HAMR drives, 40-TB EPMR drives in H2 2026, and UltraSMR powering roughly 60 percent of exabytes by 2027 positions WDC to capture projected above-25 percent CAGR exabyte growth from agentic AI and synthetic data workloads. The stock dipped modestly on the print with an abnormal move of minus 1.0 percent but subsequently rallied over 26 percent, suggesting the market increasingly validated the earnings strength and forward…
Reported After market closeNASDAQTechnology
$171.62B market cap
100quality score
Company context
Snapshot as of publicationWestern Digital Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of data storage devices and software solutions across the United States, China, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the rest of Asia, serving an international market. The company's product lineup includes client devices such as hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing platforms like desktops, notebooks, smart video systems, gaming consoles, and set-top boxes. They also provide flash-based embedded storage solutions for mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and various portable and wearable technologies, extending into automotive, Internet of Things (IoT), industrial, and connected home applications. Additionally, Western Digital produces flash-based memory wafers.…
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS
$2.72
Consensus $2
EPS surprise
+13.8%
Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue
$3.34B
Consensus $3.25B
Revenue surprise
+2.8%
Reported versus consensus
Earnings History
Estimate
Beat
Miss
Match
Analyst 52W Price Targets
$458.29Current
$50Low
$289.43Average
$1,050High
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 28, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citigroup | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 13, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 10, 2026 |
| Susquehanna | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jul 8, 2026 |
| B of A Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 1, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jun 29, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jun 15, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jun 12, 2026 |
| Mizuho | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jun 8, 2026 |
| Barclays | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | May 27, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI Group | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | May 26, 2026 |
| Baird | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | May 4, 2026 |
| UBS | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | May 1, 2026 |
| TD Cowen | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 1, 2026 |
| Rosenblatt | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 1, 2026 |
| Wedbush | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Feb 9, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Feb 4, 2026 |
| Loop Capital | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Nov 10, 2025 |
| Benchmark | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Oct 31, 2025 |
| TD Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 1, 2025 |
| Summit Insights Group | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Aug 1, 2024 |
| Argus Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 29, 2024 |
| Raymond James | Market Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Apr 22, 2024 |
| Deutsche Bank | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Jan 16, 2024 |
| Fox Advisors | Overweight | Equal Weight | Upgrade | Oct 31, 2023 |
| Exane BNP Paribas | Outperform | Neutral | Upgrade | Sep 20, 2023 |
| Credit Suisse | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | May 9, 2023 |
| Craig-Hallum | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Feb 1, 2023 |
| Stifel | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Aug 8, 2022 |
| RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jan 29, 2021 |
| Cleveland Research | Neutral | Underperform | Upgrade | Sep 23, 2020 |
| Bernstein | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 15, 2020 |
| CFRA | Hold | Hold | Maintain | May 1, 2020 |
| Stifel Nicolaus | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Mar 2, 2020 |
| Cascend | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Feb 28, 2020 |
| Longbow Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 21, 2020 |
| Cowen & Co. | Outperform | Market Perform | Upgrade | Jan 7, 2020 |
| Bank of America | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 24, 2019 |
| BMO Capital | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Oct 26, 2018 |
| Standpoint Research | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Jul 10, 2018 |
| Summit Redstone Partners | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Jan 26, 2018 |
| Aegis Capital | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jun 13, 2017 |
| Jefferies | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | May 1, 2017 |
| Guggenheim | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 4, 2017 |
| FBR Capital | Sector Perform | Sector Perform | Maintain | Sep 7, 2016 |
| BTIG Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Sep 7, 2016 |
| BTIG | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Sep 7, 2016 |
| Cross Research | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Jul 29, 2016 |
| Maxim Group | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Jun 7, 2016 |
| Brean Capital | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 28, 2016 |
| Pacific Crest | Overweight | Downgrade | Apr 19, 2016 | |
| Summit Research Partners | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Mar 28, 2016 |
| Sterne Agee CRT | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Sep 28, 2015 |
| KeyBanc | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 30, 2015 |
| CLSA | Outperform | Underperform | Upgrade | Jul 30, 2015 |
| Rhino Trading | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jun 16, 2014 |
| S&P Capital IQ | Sell | Hold | Downgrade | Jan 23, 2014 |
| FBN Securities | Perform | Sector Perform | Maintain | Oct 25, 2013 |
| PiperJaffray | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 8, 2013 |
| Lazard | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Aug 9, 2012 |
| Bank oferica | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Apr 27, 2012 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $458.28. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $560 | $558.36 | +22.2% | Jul 13, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Aaron Rakers | $730 | $578.05 | +59.3% | Jul 10, 2026 |
| Susquehanna | Mehdi Hosseini | $500 | $550.15 | +9.1% | Jul 8, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $900 | $586.45 | +96.4% | Jun 29, 2026 |
| Melius Research | Analyst unavailable | $1,050 | $586.45 | +129.1% | Jun 29, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Erik Woodring | $650 | $562.92 | +41.8% | Jun 15, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $685 | $511.72 | +49.5% | Jun 8, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Aaron Rakers | $575 | $531.21 | +25.5% | Jun 1, 2026 |
| Barclays | Tom O'Malley | $620 | $524.65 | +35.3% | May 27, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $575 | $484.28 | +25.5% | May 26, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $575 | $484.28 | +25.5% | May 26, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Vijay Rakesh | $550 | $465.26 | +20.0% | May 6, 2026 |
| Robert W. Baird | Analyst unavailable | $450 | $431.52 | -1.8% | May 4, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $400 | $426.22 | -12.7% | May 1, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $660 | $433.43 | +44.0% | May 1, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $470 | $437.01 | +2.6% | May 1, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $500 | $442.69 | +9.1% | May 1, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $375 | $434.52 | -18.2% | May 1, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Aaron Rakers | $500 | $434.52 | +9.1% | May 1, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $488 | $434.52 | +6.5% | May 1, 2026 |
| Barclays | Tom O'Malley | $450 | $434.52 | -1.8% | May 1, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $500 | $404 | +9.1% | Apr 27, 2026 |
| UBS | Timothy Arcuri | $350 | $374.11 | -23.6% | Apr 21, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $410 | $367.42 | -10.5% | Apr 20, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $378 | $338.78 | -17.5% | Apr 8, 2026 |
| Susquehanna | Mehdi Hosseini | $285 | $260.19 | -37.8% | Feb 6, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $340 | $290.24 | -25.8% | Feb 4, 2026 |
| New Street | Analyst unavailable | $250 | $290.24 | -45.4% | Feb 3, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | James Schneider | $250 | $290.24 | -45.4% | Feb 3, 2026 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $310 | $287.39 | -32.4% | Feb 3, 2026 |
| Argus Research | Jim Kelleher | $300 | $295 | -34.5% | Feb 3, 2026 |
| Robert W. Baird | Analyst unavailable | $310 | $259.94 | -32.4% | Feb 2, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $325 | $278.41 | -29.1% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $306 | $278.41 | -33.2% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $325 | $278.41 | -29.1% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $285 | $278.41 | -37.8% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| Barclays | Tom O'Malley | $325 | $278.41 | -29.1% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Erik Woodring | $306 | $278.41 | -33.2% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | James Schneider | $220 | $278.41 | -52.0% | Jan 30, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $265 | $240.85 | -42.2% | Jan 27, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $260 | $235.29 | -43.3% | Jan 22, 2026 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $230 | $221.51 | -49.8% | Jan 20, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $230 | $221.51 | -49.8% | Jan 16, 2026 |
| Susquehanna | Analyst unavailable | $205 | $222.1 | -55.3% | Jan 16, 2026 |
| Barclays | Tom O'Malley | $240 | $215 | -47.6% | Jan 15, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Aaron Rakers | $260 | $215 | -43.3% | Jan 15, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | James Schneider | $165 | $187.68 | -64.0% | Jan 9, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $240 | $187.68 | -47.6% | Jan 9, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $228 | $174.58 | -50.2% | Dec 17, 2025 |
| Mizuho Securities | Vijay Rakesh | $180 | $174.58 | -60.7% | Dec 17, 2025 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $250 | $173.98 | -45.4% | Dec 16, 2025 |
| Susquehanna | Analyst unavailable | $135 | $163.12 | -70.5% | Nov 6, 2025 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $148 | $144.68 | -67.7% | Oct 31, 2025 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $200 | $147.41 | -56.4% | Oct 31, 2025 |
| Robert W. Baird | Tristan Gerra | $180 | $155.17 | -60.7% | Oct 31, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $180 | $138.13 | -60.7% | Oct 31, 2025 |
| UBS | Munjal Shah | $145 | $138.13 | -68.4% | Oct 31, 2025 |
| Barclays | Tom O'Malley | $200 | $138.13 | -56.4% | Oct 31, 2025 |
| UBS | Timothy Arcuri | $135 | $126.2 | -70.5% | Oct 20, 2025 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $160 | $125.92 | -65.1% | Oct 17, 2025 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $190 | $115.42 | -58.5% | Oct 13, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $150 | $115.42 | -67.3% | Oct 13, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $171 | $106.88 | -62.7% | Sep 29, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $95 | $74.25 | -79.3% | Jul 31, 2025 |
| Barclays | Tom O'Malley | $50 | $43.95 | -89.1% | May 1, 2025 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $65 | $41.7 | -85.8% | Mar 7, 2025 |
| Mizuho Securities | Vijay Rakesh | $82 | $63.26 | -82.1% | Jan 3, 2025 |
| Citigroup | Asiya Merchant | $85 | $62.61 | -81.5% | Sep 10, 2024 |
| Evercore ISI | Amit Daryanani | $85 | $61.51 | -81.5% | Aug 15, 2024 |
| Susquehanna | Mehdi Hosseini | $88 | $77.1 | -80.8% | Jun 11, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Vijay Rakesh | $90 | $75.51 | -80.4% | May 31, 2024 |
| Argus Research | Jim Kelleher | $88 | $69.74 | -80.8% | Apr 29, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | Toshiya Hari | $76 | $73.9 | -83.4% | Apr 12, 2024 |
| Susquehanna | Mehdi Hosseini | $83 | $72.65 | -81.9% | Apr 10, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Vijay Rakesh | $80 | $72.95 | -82.5% | Apr 9, 2024 |
| Rosenblatt Securities | Kevin Cassidy | $115 | $70.54 | -74.9% | Apr 5, 2024 |
| Evercore ISI | Amit Daryanani | $80 | $68.15 | -82.5% | Mar 26, 2024 |
| Barclays | Tim Long | $65 | $52.23 | -85.8% | Jan 16, 2024 |
| Deutsche Bank | Sidney Ho | $65 | $52.23 | -85.8% | Jan 16, 2024 |
| Rosenblatt Securities | Kevin Cassidy | $38 | $38.97 | -91.7% | Oct 30, 2023 |
| Mizuho Securities | Vijay Rakesh | $45 | $42.58 | -90.2% | Aug 1, 2023 |
| Susquehanna | Mehdi Hosseini | $38 | $32.98 | -91.7% | May 9, 2023 |
| Craig-Hallum | Analyst unavailable | $60 | $42.44 | -86.9% | Feb 1, 2023 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $31 | $35.83 | -93.2% | Dec 15, 2022 |
| Mizuho Securities | Vijay Rakesh | $38 | $36.03 | -91.7% | Nov 29, 2022 |
| Craig-Hallum | Craig Hallum Craig-Hallum | $50 | $33.72 | -89.1% | Oct 17, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Aaron Rakers | $75 | $35.03 | -83.6% | Sep 21, 2022 |
| Mizuho Securities | Vijay Rakesh | $40 | $35.54 | -91.3% | Sep 21, 2022 |
| Rosenblatt Securities | Kevin Cassidy | $35 | $37.03 | -92.4% | Sep 16, 2022 |
| Barclays | Tom O'Malley | $55 | $47.97 | -88.0% | Aug 8, 2022 |
| Citigroup | Analyst unavailable | $60 | $47.09 | -86.9% | Aug 8, 2022 |
| Stifel Nicolaus | Analyst unavailable | $70 | $47.09 | -84.7% | Aug 8, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Sidney Ho | $64 | $47.72 | -86.0% | Jul 27, 2022 |
| Mizuho Securities | Vijay Rakesh | $68 | $45.43 | -85.2% | Jun 29, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Sidney Ho | $63 | $49.24 | -86.3% | Apr 25, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $70 | $48.55 | -84.7% | Apr 19, 2022 |
| Stifel Nicolaus | Patrick Ho | $85 | $46.34 | -81.5% | Apr 16, 2022 |
| Susquehanna | Mehdi Hosseini | $65 | $46.34 | -85.8% | Apr 14, 2022 |
| Goldman Sachs | Toshiya Hari | $52 | $45.3 | -88.7% | Mar 12, 2022 |
| Citigroup | Jim Suva | $75 | $49.9 | -83.6% | Jan 28, 2022 |
| Cowen & Co. | Karl Ackerman | $60 | $49.9 | -86.9% | Jan 28, 2022 |
| Barclays | Thomas O'Malley | $60 | $49.9 | -86.9% | Jan 28, 2022 |
| Evercore ISI | C J Muse | $75 | $55.73 | -83.6% | Dec 13, 2021 |
| Bank of America Securities | Wamsi Mohan | $77 | $52.29 | -83.2% | Oct 29, 2021 |
| Wedbush | Matt Bryson | $70 | $52.29 | -84.7% | Oct 29, 2021 |
| Wells Fargo | Aaron Rakers | $80 | $52.29 | -82.5% | Oct 29, 2021 |
| Robert W. Baird | Tristan Gerra | $75 | $52.29 | -83.6% | Oct 29, 2021 |
| Fox Advisors | Steven Fox | $85 | $68.76 | -81.5% | Aug 6, 2021 |
| Craig-Hallum | Christian Schwab | $101 | $67.07 | -78.0% | Aug 5, 2021 |
| J.P. Morgan | Harlan Sur | $88 | $67.07 | -80.8% | Aug 5, 2021 |
| Argus Research | Jim Kelleher | $84 | $67.28 | -81.7% | May 4, 2021 |
Track every rating change on WDC the moment it posts. Free to start.
Start freeMarket reaction
event-close to next-session close
Stock move
-0.7%
Event window
SPY move
+0.3%
Same window
Abnormal move
-1.0%
Stock minus SPY
Volume
2.2×
Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift
+26.6%
Up to 20 sessions
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Try FN2 freeTranscript intelligence
What changed
Revenue surged 45 percent YoY to 3.3 billion beating the 3.25 billion consensus by 2.8 percent. EPS of 2.72 exceeded the 2.39 estimate by 13.8 percent. Gross margin reached 50.5 percent up 1,040 basis points YoY. Cloud storage accounted for 89 percent of total revenue. SanDisk share monetization reduced debt by 3.1 billion achieving investment-grade rating. Free cash flow margin of 29 percent with cash of 2.0 billion against 1.6 billion in debt. Three largest customers adopted UltraSMR and four hyperscalers in HAMR qualification ahead of schedule.
Guidance delta
Management maintained guidance sentiment this quarter, versus raised guidance in the prior quarter. Q4 FY2026 guidance calls for 3.65 billion in revenue (approximately 40 percent YoY growth) and 3.25 EPS, with continued margin expansion and disciplined capital allocation. The prior quarter had guided to 3.2 billion revenue with 47-48 percent gross margin, which was exceeded as actual margin reached 50.5 percent.
Key takeaways
- Revenue of 3.3 billion up 45 percent YoY with cloud at 89 percent of sales
- EPS of 2.72 beating the 2.39 estimate by 13.8 percent
- Gross margin expanded to 50.5 percent a 1,040-basis-point improvement
- Debt reduced by 3.1 billion via SanDisk share monetization achieving investment-grade rating
- Three largest customers adopted UltraSMR and four hyperscalers in HAMR qualification ahead of schedule
- Q4 guidance 3.65 billion revenue and 3.25 EPS
Management priorities
- Begin volume production of 40-TB EPMR drives in H2 2026
- Continue HAMR qualification with four customers and target 2027 ramp
- Expand UltraSMR qualification to all major customers by end of 2027
- Deploy high-bandwidth and dual-pivot drives for AI workloads
- Maintain dividend increase and share buyback program
Related earnings events
TechnologyINTC · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026Intel Beats on AI Strength, but Foundry Losses and Rising Capex Drag SharesIBM · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026IBM Q2 2026: Revenue Growth Cools to 1% as CapEx Deal Timing Masks Underlying StrengthTXN · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026TXN Q2 2026: Revenue and EPS Beat, Pricing Hikes Begin, Guidance Reaffirmed
Sources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-28T16:02:44.938574+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-28T16:02:44.935823+00:00
Methodology
Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.
Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.
Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.
By FN2 Research · Updated . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.