The information provided on EL7.AI is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
The information provided on EL7.AI is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
| Factor | Score | Distribution | Value | Avg | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Valuation | 21 | 27.8x | 20.8x | Bottom tier | |
Growth | 79 | -15.2% | 6.1% | Top tier | |
Quality | 79 | 24.4% | 6.6% | Top tier | |
Safety | 88 | — | 0.7x | Top tier | |
Capital Return | 37 | 0.09% | 2.02% | Bottom tier | |
Momentum | 89 | 929.0% | 4.1% | Top tier | |
Sentiment | 47 | 12 | 3 | Around median |
Estimates — analyst targets and a simplified DCF, not investment advice.
Ten ratios that matter, each compared against its sector median and average — so you can see whether a number is rich or cheap relative to peers in the same sector.
Western Digital Corporation is a data storage company that, according to management’s description in the fiscal 2026 third-quarter call, focuses on the HDD business and serves especially hyperscale cloud computing providers and data centers. The company generates its revenue from selling high-capacity hard disk drives for cloud and nearline environments, in addition to products aimed at consumer and client markets, but the current mix has become highly tied to hyperscaler demand for storing data generated by AI. In the fiscal 2026 third quarter, the cloud segment represented about 89% of revenue at $3.0 billion, while consumer revenue was about $186 million, or 6%, and client was about $179 million, or 5%.
The latest reported quarter showed a clear jump in operating performance: revenue was $3.3 billion, up 45% year over year according to the earnings call, and gross profit according to EDGAR data was about $1.7 billion. Management reported a non-GAAP gross margin of 50.5%, up 1,040 basis points year over year and 440 basis points sequentially, and non-GAAP operating income was about $1.3 billion with an operating margin of 38.6%. EDGAR data for the same quarter show net income of $3.2 billion and earnings per share of 8.2, while management cited non-GAAP earnings per share of $2.72 from continuing operations.
The quarter was also strong from a capacity and cash flow perspective, as Western Digital shipped about 222 exabytes to customers, up 34% year over year, including more than 4.1 million latest-generation ePMR drives with total capacity of 118 exabytes and capacity points reaching 32 terabytes. The company generated operating cash flow of $1.1 billion and free cash flow of $978 million with a 29% margin, while reducing debt by $3.1 billion through monetizing 5.8 million SanDisk shares. At quarter-end, the company had $1.6 billion of convertible debt remaining and held cash and equivalents of $2.0 billion, resulting in a positive net cash position of $450 million.
The analyst consensus on Western Digital is buy, and the average price target is $533.33, with a wide range between $250 as the lowest target and $1,050 as the highest target. Based on the provided data snapshot, the implied price inferred from the market capitalization and the diluted share count mentioned in the call is below the average analyst target, but the gap is not a substitute for monitoring the live price shown outside this text. The data do not provide a ready price-to-earnings multiple, so the stock’s valuation here depends more on revenue growth, margin expansion, and free cash flow strength, while noting that the 52-week range of $63.67 to $799.87 reflects high volatility.
Figures in the text are as of 2026-07-07; the live price is shown at the top of the page.
Management says AI is no longer limited to training, but is moving into large-scale inference and agentic AI, increasing the generation of data that needs permanent storage. In the April 30, 2026 call, the company said inference represents about two-thirds of AI compute, and that every prompt, token, query, and checkpoint adds data that must be retained. Western Digital believes HDD remains suitable for large-scale, long-term storage in hyperscale data centers. Therefore, management links long-term demand growth to storing training, inference data, and synthetic data associated with physical AI.
Western Digital generated revenue of $3.3 billion in the fiscal 2026 third quarter, up 45% year over year according to the earnings call. Non-GAAP gross margin was about 50.5%, and operating income was $1.3 billion with a 38.6% margin. Non-GAAP earnings per share were also $2.72, up 97% year over year. EDGAR data for the same quarter show net income of $3.2 billion and earnings per share of 8.2.
In the third quarter, the company shipped more than 4.1 million latest-generation ePMR drives with total capacity of 118 exabytes and capacity points up to 32 terabytes. It is currently qualifying 40-terabyte ePMR drives with 3 customers and targets the start of mass production in the second half of calendar year 2026. As for HAMR, management said it is in the qualification phase with 4 customers for 44-terabyte drives, with a roadmap beyond 100 terabytes. For UltraSMR, it has been adopted by 3 of the largest customers, and the company targets close to 60% of exabytes shipped by the end of fiscal 2027 to come from this technology.
Automated analysis for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
In the fiscal 2026 third quarter, the company monetized 5.8 million SanDisk shares, which led to a $3.1 billion reduction in debt. It had $1.6 billion of convertible debt remaining, against $2.0 billion of cash and equivalents. As a result, it ended the quarter in a positive net cash position of $450 million. It also still owned 1.7 million SanDisk shares, and management said it intends to monetize them before the end of calendar year 2026 in a tax-free manner.
Western Digital expects revenue of $3.65 billion in the fiscal 2026 fourth quarter, plus or minus $100 million. At the midpoint, that equals year-over-year growth of about 40%. Management also expects gross margin between 51% and 52%, and operating expenses between $385 million and $395 million. It expects non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $3.25, plus or minus $0.15, based on 385 million diluted shares.