Western Digital (WDC) ended the recent trading session at $397.28, demonstrating a +1.01% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.6%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.83%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.64%.
The maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers's stock has dropped by 14.67% in the past month, falling short of the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 4.03% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.34%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Western Digital in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on October 22, 2026. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $4.07, marking a 128.65% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.16 billion, up 47.45% from the year-ago period.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $20.03 per share and a revenue of $18.78 billion, indicating changes of +95.99% and +45.39%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Western Digital. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. As of now, Western Digital holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Western Digital is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.63. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.19, so one might conclude that Western Digital is trading at a premium comparatively.
We can additionally observe that WDC currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.64. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As the market closed yesterday, the Computer- Storage Devices industry was having an average PEG ratio of 1.49.
The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 16, positioning it in the top 7% 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).