WESTERN DIGITAL (WDC) Company Report

Strong exabyte demand: exabytes grew 30% YoY last quarter; WDC forecasts mid-20s% growth over the next 12–24 months, with firm POs covering all of 2026 and one customer through 2027.
Stable pricing environment: ASP per terabyte now flat to low-single-digit up YoY, reversing historical ~7% annual erosion, supported by long-term customer agreements.
Accelerated technology roadmap: pulling forward HAMR qualification to H1 2026 (36 TB CMR/44 TB Ultra SMR) alongside Q1 2026 ePMR upgrade and driving Ultra SMR adoption (50% of nearline bits last quarter).
Margin expansion: gross margin in mid-40s%; incremental gross margins at ~75% last quarter and implied ~65% this quarter, driven by pricing, higher-density mix, and manufacturing efficiencies.
Strong cash returns: >20% free cash flow margin; dividend increased 25% to $0.125/qtr and $2 billion buyback (≈$700 million used); plans to monetise $1.5 billion SanDisk stake to pay down debt.

1 day ago

Transcript

Western Digital outlines strong demand, stable pricing and accelerated HAMR roadmap

WDC

Guidance Update

Product Launch

Exabyte demand remains robust, with exabytes growing ~30% YoY last quarter, and five major customers have firm exabyte-based POs for all of CY 2026 (one extends into 2027).
Pricing environment is now stable to slightly up, with low-single-digit ASP/TB increases compared to historical ~7% erosion per year.
Roadmap acceleration: HAMR qualification pulled into 1H 2026 for one customer (three by end-2026) and next-gen ePMR qualified in Q1 2026; planning 36 TB CMR and 44 TB Ultra SMR HAMR drives, ramping in H1 2027.
Financial strength & capital return: gross margin expanded to mid-40s% (75% incremental last quarter), free cash flow margin >20%, dividend raised 25% to $0.125/sh and $2 B buyback authorized ($700 M deployed).

1 day ago

Transcript

Western Digital outlines stable pricing, product roadmap and capital returns at UBS conference

WDC

Guidance Update

Product Launch

Share Buyback

Western Digital expects a stable pricing environment, with ASP per terabyte flat to low-single-digit increases year-over-year, supported by firm purchase orders from five customers for 2026 and one for 2027.
The company will begin HAMR qualification in H1 2026 with one customer, add two more in H2 2026, and plans to ramp HAMR drives (36 TB CMR and 44 TB Ultra SMR) in H1 2027; the next ePMR iteration is slated for Q1 2026, with an innovation day on February 3, 2026.
Western Digital’s current ePMR platform shipped 2.2 million units (70 exabytes) last quarter and is forecast to exceed 3 million units this quarter, demonstrating rapid exabyte-scale delivery.
The company delivers free cash flow margins above 20%, increased its dividend by 25% to $0.125 per share per quarter, and has repurchased ≈$700 million of shares in the first half of the year under a $2 billion buyback program, with plans to monetize its SanDisk stake to reduce debt.

1 day ago

Transcript

Sandisk reports Fiscal Q1 2026 financial results

WDC

Earnings

Guidance Update

Q1 2026 revenue was $2.31 billion, up 21% sequentially and 23% year-over-year; GAAP net income of $112 million ($0.75 diluted EPS) and Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $1.22.
Datacenter revenue rose 26% sequentially, and BiCS8 technology accounted for 15% of total bits shipped.
GAAP gross margin improved to 29.8%, a 3.6 ppt increase quarter-over-quarter.
Fiscal Q2 2026 guidance: revenue of $2.55 billion–$2.65 billion and Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $3.00–$3.40.

Nov 6, 2025, 9:05 PM

Press Release

Western Digital reports Q1 2026 results

WDC

Earnings

Guidance Update

Share Buyback

Revenue of $2.818 billion in Q1 FY26, up 27% year-over-year, with a non-GAAP gross margin of 43.9%, marking a 660 bps expansion versus Q1 FY25.
Non-GAAP EPS of $1.78, a 137% increase year-over-year.
Operating cash flow of $672 million and free cash flow of $599 million in the quarter.
Boosted share repurchases to $553 million and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.125 per share; Q2 FY26 guidance calls for revenue of $2.9 billion ± $100 million, non-GAAP gross margin of 44%–45%, and EPS of $1.88 ± $0.15.

Oct 30, 2025, 8:30 PM

Presentation

Western Digital reports Q1 2026 results

WDC

Earnings

Guidance Update

Share Buyback

Delivered $2.8 billion in revenue (up 27% YoY), 43.9% non-GAAP gross margin, $1.78 non-GAAP EPS, and $599 million free cash flow in Q1 FY 2026.
Shipped 204 exabytes (+23% YoY), with 89% of revenue from cloud customers ($2.5 billion) and robust demand for higher-capacity nearline drives.
Advanced product roadmap: shipped 2.2 million ePMR drives (~70 exabytes) and accelerated HAMR qualification to H1 CY 2026, targeting volume ramp in H1 CY 2027.
Enhanced capital returns: repurchased ~6.4 million shares for $553 million and raised the quarterly dividend by 25% to $0.125 per share.
Fiscal Q2 2026 guidance: revenue of $2.9 billion ± $0.1 billion and gross margin of 44–45%.

Oct 30, 2025, 8:30 PM

Transcript

Western Digital reports Q1 2026 results

WDC

Earnings

Guidance Update

Dividends

Revenue of $2.82 billion, up 27% year over year.
GAAP diluted EPS of $3.07 and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $1.78.
Operating cash flow of $672 million and free cash flow of $599 million.
Q2 FY26 guidance: revenue of approximately $2.9 billion (up 20% YoY) and non-GAAP EPS of $1.88.
Board increased the quarterly cash dividend by 25% to $0.125 per share.

Oct 30, 2025, 8:11 PM

8-K

Western Digital reports Q1 FY 2026 results

WDC

Earnings

Guidance Update

Dividends

Revenue grew 27% year-over-year to $2.82 billion in Q1 FY 2026.
GAAP diluted EPS was $3.07 and non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.78.
Operating cash flow reached $672 million, with free cash flow of $599 million.
The board increased the quarterly dividend by 25% to $0.125 per share.
For Q2 FY 2026, revenue is guided at $2.9 billion midpoint (+20% y/y) with non-GAAP EPS of $1.88.

Oct 30, 2025, 8:05 PM

Press Release

Western Digital opens expanded 25,600-sq-ft SIT Lab

WDC

New Projects/Investments

Product Launch

Western Digital has opened an expanded 25,600 sq ft System Integration and Test (SIT) Lab in Rochester to accelerate qualification of its high-capacity HDDs for AI and cloud workloads.
The facility features a mini data-center environment enabling real-world testing and close collaboration with customers across product lifecycles.
Wells Fargo and Evercore ISI raised their price targets to $150 (overweight) and $190 (outperform), respectively, following the announcement.
The company's market capitalization is $40.54 billion, and its shares traded up 0.99% to $116.56 at the time of the announcement.

Oct 13, 2025, 1:24 PM

Morningstar

WiredRE Development Corp launches Occupier Partnership Program

WDC

Product Launch

New Projects/Investments

WiredRE Development Corp introduced the Occupier Partnership Program (OPP) to directly engage AI, cloud, and enterprise firms in securing large-scale, power-ready data center capacity.
The OPP complements the existing Power & Real Estate Partnership (PREP) and aims to deliver first megawatts within 12 to 24 months through pre-qualified sites and shared project management.
WDC is advancing due diligence on over 8 GW of powered land opportunities in North America to support rapid deployment for hyperscale and AI operators.

Oct 8, 2025, 1:02 PM

Press Release

Earnings Transcripts

Quarterly earnings call transcripts for WESTERN DIGITAL.