Western Digital Plunges 10% After Hours Despite Beating Q4 Earnings; Forward Guidance Misses Expectations

According to Barron's, Western Digital (WDC) stock plunged over 10% after hours on August 5 following its latest quarterly earnings announcement. While the company beat Q4 expectations with adjusted earnings per share of $3.56 versus the FactSet consensus of $3.31 and revenue of $3.75 billion—up 42% year-over-year and above Wall Street's estimate of $3.7 billion—investors reacted negatively to tepid forward guidance.

For the current quarter, WDC guided revenue of $4.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million, with adjusted EPS between $3.85 and $4.15, roughly in line with analyst expectations of $4.06 billion revenue and $3.84 EPS. The conservative outlook reflects market concerns that robust AI-driven storage demand growth may face headwinds. WDC stock has surged 201% year-to-date prior to the earnings report.