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Western Digital (WDC) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Western Digital (WDC - Free Report) closed at $59.79, marking a +1.3% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.02%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.74%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.4%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers had lost 2.49% over the past month. This has was narrower than the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 3.79% and lagged the S&P 500's loss of 0.91% in that time.

Western Digital will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, Western Digital is projected to report earnings of $2.13 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 208.7%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.8 billion, up 21.79% from the year-ago period.

WDC's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $8.72 per share and revenue of $19.58 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +91.65% and +15.73%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Western Digital. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Western Digital is holding a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Western Digital is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 6.77. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.99.

The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 203, which puts it in the bottom 21% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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