ℹ️ How are these calculated?
🎯 Investment Thesis
Rally continues — $4B buyback expansion signals management confidence, and 100TB HDD roadmap targeting 2029 extends the growth runway. Best performing S&P 500 stock over 5 years ($29→$297). AI data storage thesis proven: petabyte-scale training data needs cheap bulk storage, HDD is 10x cheaper per TB than SSD. Near ATH ($308) at 22x forward PE. Analysts bullish: Cantor Fitzgerald $420, Citi $335, Rosenblatt $340.
⚠️ Key Risk
Near ATH ($297 vs $308) — the easy money has been made. WDC re-rated 3x from deep value days. $4B buyback adds floor but HDDs remain a long-term secular decline story as SSD prices fall; the AI-driven boom may be the peak of the cycle. Seagate duopoly means thin margins in a price war. Goldman skeptic at Neutral/$250. Any HDD demand softening triggers sharp de-rate.
By The Numbers
Event Impact
HDD storage for AI data lakes and cold storage. Spun off NAND (SanDisk). Pure HDD play now — cheapest storage per TB.
No defense or energy exposure.
No quantum relevance.
Asia manufacturing and supply chain exposure.
$6B debt at 22x PE. HDD demand somewhat cyclical. International revenue from weaker dollar is a minor positive.
No energy grid relevance.
No significant fiscal exposure.
Price Targets
Upcoming Catalysts
Competitive Landscape
Company Background
Founded 1970. Pioneer of the hard disk drive. Spun off SanDisk NAND business in 2024 to become a pure-play HDD company focused on cloud and enterprise bulk storage.