Western Digital (WDC) ended the recent trading session at $100.94, demonstrating a -2.09% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.1%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.57%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.33%.
Shares of the maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers have appreciated by 35.9% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 5.94%, and the S&P 500's gain of 2.57%.
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%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $2.7 billion, showing a 34.03% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.52 per share and revenue of $10.92 billion. These totals would mark changes of +32.25% and -17.76%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Western Digital. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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, 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Western Digital is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, Western Digital is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.82. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 15.91.
Investors should also note that WDC has a PEG ratio of 1.07 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. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Computer- Storage Devices industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.17.
The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 204, positioning it in the bottom 18% of all 250+ industries.
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.
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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