Western Digital Corp posts wider Q2 loss, sees impact of structural changes

(Reuters) - (This Jan. 25 story has been corrected to drop reference to analysts' estimates in paragraph 1, to say 'better than,' not 'missing analysts' average estimate,' in paragraph 5 and to fix the current quarter forecast in paragraph 6)

Data storage products maker Western Digital Corp posted a wider second-quarter adjusted loss on Thursday, due to the impact of structural changes the company implemented in its flash and HDD businesses.

Shares of the company were down about 4% in after-market trading.

Last quarter, the company said it would spin off its flash memory business, which has been grappling with a supply glut after talks of merging the unit with Japan's Kioxia stalled, by the second half of 2024.

The company said its second-quarter loss included $156 million of underutilization-related charges in Flash and HDD.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a loss of 69 cents per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of a loss of $1.31 per share, according to LSEG data.

Western Digital expects a loss of 10 cents to a profit of 20 cents per share on an adjusted basis in the current quarter.

The company reported revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 29. Analysts had expected revenue of $3.39 billion.

(Reporting by Tanya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)