Western Digital (WDC) closed at $125.28 in the latest trading session, marking a -4.59% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500’s 0.37% gain on the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.14%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.71%.
Shares of the maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers have appreciated by 42.67% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Computer and Technology sector’s gain of 8.04%, and the S&P 500’s gain of 4.26%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Western Digital in its upcoming earnings disclosure. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.58, marking a 11.24% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $2.7 billion, indicating a 34.03% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $6.62 per share and a revenue of $10.92 billion, signifying shifts of +34.28% and -17.76%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Western Digital. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.74% higher. Western Digital currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking at its valuation, Western Digital is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 19.84. This valuation marks no noticeable deviation compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 19.84.
We can additionally observe that WDC currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.02. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company’s expected earnings growth rate into account. By the end of yesterday’s trading, the Computer- Storage Devices industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.08.
The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 86, finds itself in the top 35% echelons of all 250+ industries.
