Western Digital (WDC) Q4 Earnings Report Preview: What To Look For

Leading data storage manufacturer Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) will be announcing earnings results tomorrow after market hours. Here’s what you need to know.

Western Digital missed analysts’ revenue expectations by 0.7% last quarter, reporting revenues of $4.10 billion, up 48.9% year on year. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with a solid beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates but revenue guidance for next quarter slightly missing analysts’ expectations.

Is Western Digital a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free.

This quarter, analysts are expecting Western Digital’s revenue to grow 40.6% year on year to $4.26 billion, a reversal from the 2.4% decrease it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $1.82 per share.

Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Western Digital has only missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates once over the last two years, exceeding top-line expectations by 2.7% on average.

Looking at Western Digital’s peers in the semiconductors segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Seagate Technology delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 49.5%, meeting analysts’ expectations, and Micron reported revenues up 84.3%, in line with consensus estimates. Seagate Technology traded up 6.8% following the results while Micron was down 16%.

Read our full analysis of Seagate Technology’s results here and Micron’s results here.

Investors in the semiconductors segment have had steady hands going into earnings, with share prices flat over the last month. Western Digital is up 8.7% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $85.50 (compared to the current share price of $64.40).

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