Western Digital (WDC) closed the latest trading day at $44.75, indicating a +0.49% change from the previous session's end. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.64% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.85%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.31%.
Coming into today, shares of the maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers had lost 34.89% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 11.22%, while the S&P 500 lost 7.69%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Western Digital in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.06, signifying a 68.25% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.85 billion, up 11.4% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $5.46 per share and a revenue of $16.27 billion, demonstrating changes of +2830% and +25.13%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Western Digital. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.95% lower. At present, Western Digital boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Western Digital has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.16 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.72, which means Western Digital is trading at a discount to the group.
The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 81, this industry ranks in the top 33% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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Western Digital Corporation (WDC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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