Western Digital Corporation

A report titled Thailand Investment Outlook: Hope, resilience, and growth by PwC Thailand says supply chain diversification, AI adoption, and the energy transition are opening a new chapter of investment opportunity in Thailand and strengthening the country's role as a gateway to ASEAN. The momentum is reflected in Thailand's gross foreign direct investment transaction value, which reached 86 billion US dollars, or about 2.9 trillion baht, in 2025, according to Bank of Thailand data, with China, Singapore, and the European Union among the key sources of investment. The report, published ahead of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, says Thailand has several strengths, including a domestic market of 71.7 million people, a strong automotive manufacturing ecosystem, and leadership in the tourism, healthcare, and food industries. It notes that ASEAN has a population of about 700 million and a combined economic value of roughly 4.2 trillion US dollars, or about 141.3 trillion baht, with economic growth expected to average 4 to 5 percent a year. Thailand's capabilities span four key hubs. In automotive, Thailand is Southeast Asia's largest vehicle producer, making about 1.5 million passenger cars in 2025, with EVs accounting for 53 percent of new car sales in the first half of 2026. Past investments by foreign companies include Google's 1 billion US dollar plan, or about 33.6 billion baht, for the Bangkok Cloud Region; Western Digital's 693 million US dollar, or about 23.3 billion baht, expansion of its manufacturing base; and BYD's 490 million US dollar, or about 16.5 billion baht, investment to build its first wholly owned passenger car production base in Southeast Asia. Puvin Noochoowet, Territory Operating Officer and Deals Partner at PwC Thailand, said Thailand's investment story is entering a new chapter, and seizing this opportunity requires linking AI, supply chain diversification, and the energy transition with capabilities, infrastructure, and a skilled workforce.

Alphabet is removing the cost barrier to Google Vids, letting anyone with a Google account use its AI video generator for free through the Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash model. Every video created, stored, and delivered adds to the growing volume of data that Western Digital and Seagate are positioned to handle, and all AI-generated videos carry a SynthID watermark. Western Digital's cloud revenue represented 89% of its latest quarter, with total exabytes shipped up 22% year-over-year on nearline products, and its CEO says the company is sold out for calendar year 2026; Seagate has nearly all nearline capacity committed into calendar 2028 and targets long-term revenue growth of at least 20%. Investors have already driven Western Digital up roughly 330% and Seagate about 305% over the past year, well ahead of the industry's 45% revenue growth, and Google trades at a forward P/E of 21.8x versus the S&P 500's 19.2x, with consensus projecting about 9.3% earnings growth in 2026 and roughly 27.6% in 2027. Hedge fund holdings in Google rose from 265 at the end of Q1 2026 to 275 at the end of Q2 2026.

Western Digital ended its latest session at $462.56, up 1.78% and ahead of the S&P 500's 0.2% gain, as investors looked toward an earnings report projected to show earnings of $4.07 per share, a 128.65% year-over-year increase, on quarterly revenue of $4.16 billion, up 47.45%. For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $20.03 per share and revenue of $18.78 billion, representing changes of +95.99% and +45.39% from the prior year. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained unchanged over the last 30 days, and Western Digital currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). The stock trades at a Forward P/E ratio of 22.69, a premium to the industry average of 10.65, and a PEG ratio of 1.89 versus the Computer-Storage Devices industry average of 1.41. The Computer-Storage Devices industry, part of the Computer and Technology sector, currently holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 18, placing it within the top 8% of more than 250 industries.

Newegg Commerce announced on September 24 that Newegg Business is collaborating with Western Digital to help IT teams select and scale high-performance storage solutions, with Newegg Business hosting a live webinar titled "Realize the Full Power of Your AI NAS with WD Red Pro" on September 30, 2026. The session will highlight how Western Digital's purpose-built WD Red Pro HDDs power AI-driven Network Attached Storage systems for 24/7 multi-user IT environments. The partnership leans on Newegg's strengthening business and wholesale demand, which helped drive net income to $2.2 million in Q2 2026 even as overall net sales dipped 8.1% year-over-year to $320.4 million. For Western Digital, the tie-up extends a strong cycle in which Q4 FY26 revenue grew 44% year-over-year to $3.75 billion, non-GAAP gross margin reached 54.4%, and free cash flow hit $1.28 billion. Newegg still faces memory and flash shortages that pushed Q2 2026 GMV down 3.9% year-over-year to $403.2 million, while Western Digital remains exposed to cyclical storage demand and volatile component pricing.

Zacks Investment Research named Seagate Technology Holdings plc, Western Digital Corporation, Micron Technology, Inc. and Sandisk Corporation as four memory semiconductor stocks to watch in October 2026, citing AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory, DDR5 DRAM and enterprise SSDs alongside constrained supply. Seagate, rated Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a Growth Score of A, is expected to post a 132% year-over-year revenue increase and a 55% EPS increase in fiscal 2026, with its consensus estimate unchanged over the past 30 days. Western Digital, rated Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) with a Growth Score of A, is projected to grow fiscal 2026 EPS by approximately 96%, also unchanged over the past 30 days. Micron, rated Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) with a Growth Score of A, reported revenues that soared 345.7% year over year to $41.46 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $25.11 per share that grew 12 times year over year, while its fiscal 2026 EPS consensus implies an approximately 792% year-over-year increase and has been revised upward over the past 30 days. Sandisk, rated Zacks Rank #3 with a Growth Score of A, raised its 2026 datacenter exabyte growth view to the mid-70% range and sees fiscal 2026 revenues and EPS rising approximately 143% and 201%, respectively, with its earnings consensus revised upward over the past 30 days.

S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Western Digital to positive while affirming its BBB- credit rating, citing accelerating cash flow, low leverage and strong AI-related storage demand. Western Digital has also moved to redeem its remaining 3% convertible notes, a step the company frames as evidence its balance sheet can fund next-generation HDD and HAMR products. The company is actively highlighting AI-focused NAS and cloud storage solutions, with its key near-term catalyst being the qualification and ramp of higher-capacity drives with hyperscalers. The main risk cited is that a faster-moving rival captures more 44TB HAMR deployments. Western Digital's narrative projects $32.0 billion in revenue and $15.2 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 35.3% yearly revenue growth and about a $5.9 billion earnings increase from $9.3 billion today, while the most bullish analysts picture US$36.1 billion of revenue by 2029.

Western Digital is increasingly tying its hard-disk-drive demand outlook to the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, with management pointing to neoclouds, frontier AI labs and sovereign AI initiatives as additional drivers that could extend the company's growth trajectory. On its last earnings call, management said these emerging customers are seeking HDDs for their economic benefits amid rising storage demands, and that tight HDD supply is creating opportunities for increased pricing leverage. Western Digital also cited growing storage requirements from physical AI companies and expects physical AI to contribute to growth in calendar 2027 and beyond, noting that an autonomous-vehicle customer's calendar 2027 exabyte requirement has increased multi-fold. The opportunity is unfolding in a competitive space: Western Digital competes directly with Seagate Technology in HDDs, while NetApp competes for AI storage spending through all-flash and hybrid-flash solutions. Seagate's HAMR-based products represented approximately 40% of its nearline exabyte shipment run rate at the end of fiscal 2026, and NetApp's all-flash array revenues came in at $1.31 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, up 47% from the prior-year quarter. Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Western Digital's fiscal 2027 earnings has been revised up 8.8% to $20.03 per share.

Western Digital Corporation entered fiscal 2027 with stronger cash generation and a net cash position after a year of significant shareholder returns. In fiscal 2026, operating cash flow reached $3.93 billion, up 132% year over year, while free cash flow rose 145% to $3.51 billion, with revenues of $12.9 billion and a free cash flow margin of about 27%. The company returned $3.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, including $1 billion in buybacks and $54 million in dividends in the fiscal fourth quarter. Management reaffirmed its commitment to returning free cash flow to shareholders and declared a 15-cents-per-share dividend payable September 17, 2026. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Western Digital expects revenue of $4.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million, and non-GAAP EPS of $4.00, plus or minus 15 cents.

SanDisk stock surged 8% to $1,686 in Friday morning trading, leading a broad rally in memory and storage names despite no company-specific news, with Micron Technology up 5% to $1,003.22 and Western Digital gaining 4% to $460.19. The sector move comes as the Labor Department reported 162,000 jobs added in August, far exceeding the forecast of 65,000, pushing rate-hike expectations higher yet failing to dampen the memory bid. SanDisk's rally extends a 555% year-to-date gain built on fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $8.96 billion, up 371.6% year over year, with adjusted earnings of $39.25 per share beating the consensus estimate of $33.28 and a GAAP gross margin of 84.6%. The company guided fiscal first-quarter revenue to $10.30 billion to $10.80 billion, above its latest quarter, signaling continued NAND pricing strength. Micron has flagged tight DRAM and NAND supply persisting beyond 2027, while Western Digital reported blended storage prices climbing in the high teens year over year, reinforcing the view that the pricing cycle remains intact.

Micron and Western Digital shares jumped after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told The Wall Street Journal the Trump administration opposes Apple buying Chinese memory chips. Lutnick said Washington is "not in favor" of Apple using Chinese memory and that he had conveyed that "plainly," which would keep more of the shortage with Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix. The news followed Sandisk's Analyst/Investor Day updates, where the company projected mid-to-high-teens revenue growth, non-GAAP gross margins of about 80%, and non-GAAP operating margins of about 75% from fiscal 2028 through 2030, and said New Business Model agreements with eight customers cover about half of its bits in fiscal 2027 and about two-thirds in fiscal 2028. Micron jumped 5.8% and Western Digital jumped 5.4%.

Western Digital shares jumped approximately 6.1% to $539.82 Monday morning as investors rushed back into storage stocks, fueled by Washington's push to reduce Apple's reliance on Chinese memory suppliers. The company's fiscal fourth-quarter results showed revenue surging 44% to $3.75 billion and GAAP gross margin expanding to 54.1%, with adjusted earnings of $3.56 per share. Management guided for another strong quarter with revenue expected between $4 billion and $4.2 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.85 to $4.15 per share. The stock trades at $541.92 versus a GF Value estimate of $101.22, approximately 435% above that valuation benchmark.

AI infrastructure stocks edged higher in pre-market trading on Monday after Anthropic's second quarter revenue surged to $11.5B, nearly two-and-a-half times the first quarter's $4.7B figure. The Dario Amodei-led firm also recorded positive adjusted operating income for the first time. Memory and storage companies rose, with Micron Technology up 3%, Seagate Technology up 2.5%, Sandisk up 3.5%, Western Digital up 2.6%, and Nasdaq newcomer SK Hynix up 3%. Networking stocks were mostly higher, with Lumentum Holdings, Ciena, and Corning all up 1.5%, while Applied Optoelectronics and Coherent both increased 1.7%. Chipmakers were modestly higher, with Intel and Nvidia both up about 0.7%, after Nvidia slashed its financial backing for a massive OpenAI data center project in Ohio from $250B to less than $120B. The largest hyperscalers were mixed, with Oracle down 1.1%, Microsoft down 0.7%, Google up 0.2%, and Amazon up 1.4%.

Alibaba shares rose 1.5% premarket after Reuters reported the company is set to sell its Lingxi Games business to private equity firm Trustar Capital for more than $2 billion. Memory chipmakers gained after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the Wall Street Journal the Trump administration opposes Apple buying Chinese memory chips, with Sandisk up nearly 5% and Western Digital and Micron Technology up more than 3%. Intel added about 1.5% after CEO Lip-Bu Tan purchased more than 105,000 shares at $95 each, according to an SEC filing. SoFi Technologies rose 2% after Piper Sandler initiated coverage with an overweight rating, and Okta gained 1% after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to overweight from equal-weight.

Shares of Marvell Technology, MACOM, Micron, Western Digital, and Semtech jumped in afternoon trading after upbeat earnings and bullish forecasts from AI-related firms signaled robust demand for artificial intelligence technology. Super Micro Computer rallied after its earnings per share came in 84% higher than expected and it provided a revenue forecast that topped estimates, while CoreWeave gained after its sales forecast also exceeded expectations. The optimism spread globally, with Asian markets rising and South Korea's semiconductor exports surging 155% year-over-year in early August. Marvell Technology rose 4.5%, MACOM gained 5.4%, Micron jumped 6.9%, Western Digital added 4.1%, and Semtech climbed 6.9%.

The People's Bank of China announced it will conduct a 1 trillion yuan outright reverse repurchase operation on August 14, with a term of six months. Meanwhile, as of the Hong Kong stock market close on August 13, CXMT's market value reached 3.54 trillion yuan, surpassing Tencent Holdings' 3.44 trillion yuan. US memory chip stocks surged, with SanDisk up more than 13 percent, and Western Digital and SK Hynix up more than 7 percent. DeepSeek announced API price adjustments using peak and off-peak pricing, with off-peak prices set at half the peak rate, effective August 17. SMIC reported second-quarter revenue of 3.006 billion US dollars, up 36.1 percent year on year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 479 million US dollars, up 261.7 percent year on year.

Sandisk Corp. surged nearly 14% after unveiling a long-term financial framework that points to sharply higher margins and stronger cash generation. At its Investor Day, the data storage and flash-memory company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high teens rate from fiscal 2028 through fiscal 2030. Sandisk is also targeting adjusted gross margins of about 80% and adjusted operating margins near 75% over that period. The company expects an adjusted free-cash-flow margin of roughly 50% after taxes, capital spending and working-capital needs, and management said it intends to return 100% of excess cash to shareholders after investing in the business. The outlook helped lift other storage and memory names as well, with Western Digital, SK Hynix, Micron and Seagate all gaining.

Western Digital reported fourth-quarter 2026 sales of US$3,747 million and net income of US$3,195 million, with full-year sales reaching US$12.92 billion and net income US$9.42 billion, alongside a US$0.15 per-share cash dividend declared for payment in September 2026. Management highlighted that AI customers are already negotiating multi-year storage agreements stretching up to five years, suggesting Western Digital is securing longer-term visibility into demand as data-intensive AI workloads expand. The company's narrative projects $27.9 billion revenue and $10.7 billion earnings by 2029, requiring 33.3% yearly revenue growth and a $4.4 billion earnings increase from $6.3 billion today.

Total semiconductor billings surged 134% year-over-year to 151.9 billion dollars in June, according to Wells Fargo analysts citing Semiconductor Industry Association data. Memory chips led the surge, with DRAM billings increasing 373% year-over-year to 56.8 billion dollars and NAND Flash billings up 377% to about 30.7 billion dollars. Excluding memory, semiconductor billings rose 38% year-over-year to 63.5 billion dollars, while analog billings grew 22% to 8.42 billion dollars. The analysts, led by Aaron Rakers, noted that DRAM bits shipped grew 26% year-over-year in June, and NAND bits shipped increased 2%.

Western Digital says customers are already negotiating AI storage contracts that run through 2031, giving unusually long visibility into demand. Management highlighted that some agreements under discussion would secure capacity up to five years ahead for AI infrastructure customers. The company reported full-year sales of US$12.9 billion and net income of US$9.4 billion, and the longer horizon discussions provide context for how hyperscalers are thinking about storage needs over multiple budget cycles. The share price at $519.17 has been highly sensitive to AI-related expectations, with the stock up 176.6% year to date.