Western Digital stock was trading lower late Thursday despite reporting fiscal third quarter earnings and sales that exceeded expectations. The company reported earning an adjusted 63 cents per share on sales of $3.46 billion for the March-ending quarter, compared to analyst predictions of 22 cents per share on $3.37 billion in sales.
Looking ahead, Western Digital guided for sales of $3.7 billion at the midpoint of its range for the current quarter, slightly below analyst projections of $3.71 billion, according to FactSet. Despite the strong performance, Western Digital stock was down fractionally in after-hours trading.
As one of the largest makers of hard disk drives and flash data storage products, Western Digital plans to spin off its flash and hard-drive businesses. The company expects to complete this transition by the second half of 2024. Prior to earnings, Western Digital stock was trading flat at $69.44, a 32% increase year-to-date and 111% in the past 12 months.
Western Digital’s technical ratings indicate mixed performance, with a Composite Rating of 66 out of 99, an EPS Rating of 5 out of 99, and a Relative Strength rating of 96 out of 99. Despite recent struggles in earnings, investors are optimistic about a potential turnaround in Western Digital stock.
Investors may also want to consider other data storage companies like Nvidia and Amazon as potential investments