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Western Digital (WDC) Advances While Market Declines: Some Information for Investors

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In the latest market close, Western Digital (WDC - Free Report) reached $66.58, with a +0.09% movement compared to the previous day. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.17%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.44%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.04%.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers had gained 5.67% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 1.41% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.25% in that time.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Western Digital in its forthcoming earnings report. In that report, analysts expect Western Digital to post earnings of $1.72 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 197.73%. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $4.11 billion, indicating a 49.5% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $8.35 per share and a revenue of $17.13 billion, signifying shifts of +4275% and +31.77%, respectively, from the last year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Western Digital. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Western Digital presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Western Digital is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 7.96. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 13.39, so one might conclude that Western Digital is trading at a discount comparatively.

The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 42, positioning it in the top 17% 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.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.


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