Yahoo Finance Western Digital (WDC) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know
Western Digital (WDC) closed at $55.65 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.84% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.04%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.15%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.67%.
Heading into today, shares of the maker of hard drives for businesses and personal computers had lost 2.84% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 1.53% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.02% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from WDC as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 25, 2018. The company is expected to report EPS of $3.08, down 13.48% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.14 billion, down 0.83% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.61 per share and revenue of $20.59 billion. These totals would mark changes of -21.18% and -0.28%, respectively, from last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for WDC. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. WDC currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note WDC's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 4.83. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.61.
Meanwhile, WDC's PEG ratio is currently 0.25. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. WDC's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.32 as of yesterday's close.
The Computer- Storage Devices industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 20, which puts it in the top 8% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow WDC in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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