Western Digital is a leading vertically integrated supplier of hard disk drives. The HDD market is a practical duopoly, with Western Digital and Seagate being the two largest players.
It is a $148B technology company. Revenue grew 35.7% over the last year, and it keeps 73¢ of every dollar of sales as profit. It trades at 14.6× earnings.
- Website
- westerndigital.com
- Location
- San Jose, CA
- Employees
- 40 000
- Sector
- Technology
- Founded
- 1970
Skills
Six independent scores, 0–100, built from reported numbers and valuation history. Click a row to see how it was scored.
Strong profitability; Valuation, Health, Quality and Moat lag behind.
Valuation20
- P/E vs own history63th pct · 5/25
- FCF yield2.4% · 5/25
- P/S10.6x · 5/25
- EV/EBITDA32.0x · 5/25
Growth50
- Revenue CAGR-8.9% · 0/25
- Net income CAGR58.3% · 25/25
- EPS CAGR ~5Y55.7% · 25/25
- Fwd implied growth-26.6% · 0/25
Profitability75
- ROICn/a · 0/25
- ROE117.8% · 25/25
- Net margin72.9% · 25/25
- Operating margin30.3% · 25/25
Health22
- Altman Zn/a · 0/25
- Current ratio1.33 · 12/25
- Interest coverage2.0x · 10/25
- Net cash / debtn/a · 0/25
Quality35
- Piotroski F6/9 · 15/25
- Beneish M2.39 · 0/25
- FCF conversion45% · 8/25
- Margin stabilityσ 11.9% · 12/25
Moat24
- ROIC >12% years2/10 yrs · 0/25
- Median gross margin26.7% · 6/25
- FCF-positive years9/11 yrs · 18/25
- Worst-year net marginworst -13.8% · 0/25
Experience
The company's career so far — founding, the IPO, landmark products and acquisitions, plus revenue milestones and insider buying.
- FY2026FinancialBest year on record$9.42B net income
- 2023AcquisitionMerger talks with Kioxia resumed in 2023, but the merger was called off after Kioxia's largest shareholder Bain…
- 2016AcquisitionWestern Digital acquired SanDisk for US$19 billion
- FY2016FinancialFirst recorded profitable year$242M net income
- FY2016FinancialRevenue already above $10B$13.0B in first reported year
- 2012AcquisitionWestern Digital completed the acquisition of HGST and became the largest traditional hard drive…
- Oct 7, 2007ProductWestern Digital released several editions of a single 1 TB hard drive, the largest in its My…
- 2001MilestoneWestern Digital became the first manufacturer to offer mainstream ATA hard disk drives with 8 MiB of disk…
- 1986ProductThat controller, the WD1003, became the basis of the ATA interface (which Western Digital developed along with…
- 1977MilestoneChuck Missler joined Western Digital as chairman and chief executive in June 1977
- 1976MilestoneThe oil crisis of the mid-1970s and the bankruptcy of its biggest calculator customer, Bowmar Instrument, changed…
- 1971ProductIt adopted its current name and soon introduced its first product, the WD1402A UART
- 1970FoundedEstablished in 1970, the company is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drives (HDDs)
Achievements
Verifiable track record, straight from the reported numbers.
Strengths & watch-outs
What a bull and a bear would each point to. Both lists come from the reported numbers, not opinions.
Strengths
- High gross margin (48.9%)
- Strongly profitable — 72.9% net margin
- Revenue growing 35.7% year over year
- Strong cash conversion — FCF is 27.2% of revenue
Watch-outs
- Loss-making in 4 of the recent years
Qualifications
The basics a company should meet before you research it further. Each check uses the reported numbers.
- Revenue growing — the company sells more than a year ago+35.7% YoY
- Profitable — makes more than it spends$9.42B TTM
- Profit growing — earnings are higher than last year+56.1% YoY
- Generates cash — cash left after running and investing$3.51B TTM
- Debt under control — could handle its obligationscurrent ratio 1.33
- Established company — not a micro-cap — lower blow-up risk$148B market cap
- Not printing shares — share count not ballooning — you keep your slice+25.6% shares over ~5y
- Proven track record — years of profitability behind it7/11 profitable years
- Financially stable — balance sheet not near distresshealth score 22/100
- Pays a dividend — returns cash to shareholdersyield 0.13%
- Valuation not extreme — price not wildly above earningsP/E 14.6
Peer comparisonWestern Digital Corp. vs 6 largest technology peers — cap, P/E, growth and margin side by sideOpen ▾Close ▴
| Company | Market cap | P/E | Revenue growth | Net margin | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WDC this company | $148.2B | 14.6 | +35.7% | 72.9% | Strained |
| NVDA Nvidia Corp | $5.5T | 28.6 | +83.4% | 63.7% | Mixed |
| AAPL Apple Inc. | $4.9T | 38.1 | +14.2% | 27.6% | Strong |
| GOOGL Alphabet Inc. | $4.3T | 17.6 | +20.1% | 54.8% | Mixed |
| MSFT Microsoft Corp | $4.0T | 29.7 | +17.8% | 40.3% | Strong |
| SPCX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. | $2.1T | — | +33.2% | -34.0% | Strained |
| META Meta Platforms, Inc. | $1.8T | 26.9 | +27.7% | 29.8% | Mixed |
Head-to-head: WDC vs NVDA · WDC vs AAPL · WDC vs GOOGL
References
What covering analysts publish about the company — information only, not a recommendation.
Appendix · Financial records
The full statements behind this CV, FY2016–FY2026. For readers who want to check the numbers.
Live data and quarterly detail: stockcv.com/WDC
Want the live picture — intraday moves, valuation history and full analysis?
Deeper analysis of WDC on PreMarketPriceFigures are derived from company filings (quarterly values normalised from as-filed year-to-date data where applicable) and may be delayed, restated or incomplete. This page is information, not investment advice. Latest price $395.78 · market cap $148B.