TLDR
- WDC stock jumped 7.3% to $487.29, hitting an intraday high of $502.64
- Former subsidiary SanDisk surged 13%+ after projecting mid-teens annual revenue growth through 2030
- Western Digital beat Q4 FY2026 estimates with EPS of $3.56 vs consensus of $3.29, on revenue of $3.75 billion
- JPMorgan raised its price target to $650 with an “overweight” rating; consensus sits at “Moderate Buy” with a $534.56 average target
- CEO Irving Tan sold $8.9 million worth of stock on August 11 under a pre-arranged trading plan
Western Digital (WDC) stock climbed 7.3% on August 14, trading at $487.29 and touching an intraday high of $502.64. The previous close was $454.10.
Western Digital Corporation, WDC
The spark came from SanDisk, Western Digital’s former Flash subsidiary, which held an Investor Day on August 13. SanDisk projected mid-teens annual revenue growth for fiscal years 2028 through 2030, driven by AI infrastructure demand. The stock surged more than 13% overnight, pulling storage peers higher with it.
SanDisk also announced it had signed multi-year contracts with eight customers under a new business model, giving investors a concrete look at how it plans to capture long-term AI storage spending.
That sector tailwind hit WDC at a good time. The company had already reported strong Q4 FY2026 results on August 4, posting adjusted EPS of $3.56 versus the $3.29 consensus. Revenue came in at $3.75 billion, up 43.8% year-over-year and ahead of the $3.70 billion estimate.
Guidance Tops Expectations
For Q1 FY2027, Western Digital guided for revenue of approximately $4.1 billion and gross margins of 55% to 56%, both above what analysts had penciled in.
Free cash flow for fiscal 2026 came in at approximately $3.5 billion, adding to the bullish picture analysts have been building around the stock.
Analyst price target upgrades followed the results. JPMorgan raised its target from $530 to $650 with an “overweight” rating. Rosenblatt kept its “buy” rating but trimmed its target from $900 to $800. Zacks upgraded the stock to “strong-buy” earlier this year. The consensus stands at “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $534.56.
Western Digital’s fair value estimate was also revised upward, from $584.79 to $662.13, according to one analysis.
Insider Sale Noted
CEO Irving Tan sold 20,000 shares on August 11 at an average price of $444.97, totaling approximately $8.9 million. The sale was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represented a 3.36% reduction in his holdings. He still directly owns 575,966 shares, valued at roughly $256 million.
A second insider, Vidyadhara K. Gubbi, sold 2,475 shares back in June at $556.24. Over the past 90 days, insiders have sold a combined 25,093 shares worth approximately $11.65 million.
Institutional ownership remains high at 92.51% of outstanding stock. Several firms added to their positions in Q2, including Dogwood Wealth Management, which boosted its stake by 28.6%.
The broader market was largely flat on the day, with the S&P 500 up 0.1% and the Nasdaq gaining 0.2%. Memory and storage stocks broadly outperformed.
WDC’s 52-week high stands at $799.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $558.15, and its 200-day moving average is $423.11.
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