Overview
- Shares reached new all-time highs after a Morgan Stanley price-target increase to $650 triggered heavy buying and pushed momentum indicators into overbought territory.
- Company guidance showed a marked near-term acceleration with next-quarter revenue guided to $3.65 billion and adjusted EPS guided to $3.25.
- Morgan Stanley and other analysts cited booming AI and hyperscaler demand that they say is compounding storage needs at roughly 40% annually and that customers are seeking supply visibility into the late 2020s.
- Analysts reported that Western Digital’s high-capacity UltraSMR and HAMR drive programs are on track for delivery between the second half of 2026 and the first half of 2027 but those rollouts remain subject to technical and execution risk.
- Market risk is elevated because the stock trades well above the analyst mean near $542, carries a stretched forward multiple and shows unusually high options implied volatility near 90, signaling large expected price swings.