Western Digital's $1 Billion Buyback Backs Up a Forecast That Dwarfs Its Own Quarter
Published on 10/26/2026 at 19:20 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Western Digital spent $1.00 billion repurchasing its own shares in the quarter ended October 2, acquiring 2.0 million shares in total, according to a quarterly filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission submitted on Friday. The disclosure arrived a day after the storage maker posted results and guidance that reset expectations for the business — and a day before analysts offered a decidedly mixed verdict on what the stock is worth.
Room Left in the Program
At the close of the quarter on October 2, $2.26 billion remained available under the buyback authorization. The mandatory filing lays out both the purchases already completed and the financial headroom left in the program.
Separately, the board on Wednesday approved a cash dividend of $0.175 per share, payable on December 17 to shareholders of record as of December 4.
A Quarter That Speaks for Itself
On the operating side, Western Digital reported revenue of $4.38 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 on Thursday, an increase of 55% year over year. Adjusted diluted earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis, outside US GAAP accounting, came in at $4.64 — a figure that complements the revenue picture but should be read explicitly as an adjusted measure.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Western Digital?
The outlook is where the story shifts. For the second quarter of fiscal 2027, the company guided to revenue of $5.1 billion, with a range of $100 million either side of that midpoint. That implies growth of between 66% and 72% compared with the year-earlier quarter — revenue above the period just reported.
Adjusted non-GAAP earnings per share are forecast at $5.60 to $6.00, a range that also sits above the reported result. Guidance is not earned profit, and the distinction matters during a recovery in memory stocks: strong numbers provide the starting point, but the promised improvement has to be delivered.
The Stock Moves, the Targets Diverge
Shares gained 5.5% as strong quarterly figures and the forecast set the tone on Thursday. The results were also tied to the broader rebound in storage equities — corporate numbers can give an industry move a foundation, though they do not by themselves prove the trend will continue.
Friday's analyst responses went in different directions. According to media reports, there was one target hike alongside several cuts. Strong business figures, in other words, do not automatically translate into higher valuation benchmarks — a reminder of the gap between a positive assessment and the price an analysis house considers appropriate.
Questions about the durability of AI demand also came up. CFO Kris Sennesael said on the earnings call that spending trends among the major cloud providers had not changed, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Western Digital at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
Despite the beat and the strong outlook, the stock fell after the results were released.
What matters most is not the size of any single day's move but the expected further growth. Western Digital has already reported markedly higher revenue, so the question becomes how much continuation the guidance promises — and whether the company can cash the cheque it has written.
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