Western Digital (WDC) ended the recent trading session at $93.29, demonstrating a +1.36% change from the preceding day's closing price. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.21% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.25%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.45%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers had gained 22.77% outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 4.48% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.07%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Western Digital in its upcoming earnings disclosure. On that day, Western Digital is projected to report earnings of $1.57 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 11.8%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.7 billion, down 34.03% from the year-ago period.
WDC's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.5 per share and revenue of $10.92 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +31.85% and -17.76%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Western Digital. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Western Digital is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Digging into valuation, Western Digital currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.16. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 15.31.
Investors should also note that WDC has a PEG ratio of 1.03 right now. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. Computer- Storage Devices stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.09 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 63, finds itself in the top 26% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
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Western Digital Corporation (WDC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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