Ticker: Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) – Date: November 29, 2025
Key Takeaways
- Western Digital stock is trading around $163 per share, after a roughly 3.5–3.7% jump on the last trading day, capping a massive rally of well over 200% in 2025. [1]
- Fresh November 29 headlines highlight three big themes: strong analyst conviction with rising price targets, new institutional buying (Ceredex Value Advisors), and continued momentum after blockbuster AI‑driven earnings. [2]
- Analysts now see upside scenarios stretching toward $200–$250 per share at the high end, even as some models flag valuation and cycle risks after the parabolic run. [3]
- Under the surface, AI and high‑performance computing (HPC) storage demand, new UltraSMR HDD platforms, and a $2 billion buyback are driving the long‑term bull case. [4]
- At the same time, cyclical memory pricing, Kioxia‑linked volatility, and a sharp re‑rating mean WDC is no longer a “cheap turnaround” – risk management matters. [5]
Important: The following is information and analysis, not financial advice. Always do your own research or speak with a licensed advisor before investing.
Western Digital Stock Today: Price, Performance and Momentum
As of the latest close (Friday, November 28, 2025), Western Digital stock trades at about $163.33 per share, with intraday data showing a gain of roughly 3.5–3.7% on volume a little over 3.2 million shares. [6]
Over the past year, WDC has:
- Climbed from a 52‑week low near $28.83 (April 2025) to a 52‑week high around $178.45 (November 11, 2025). [7]
- Delivered a ~200%+ total return on a trailing‑twelve‑month basis, making it one of the top performing stocks in the S&P 500 this year. [8]
Financial media have repeatedly called out Western Digital as a standout AI beneficiary, with some pieces noting that the stock is up about 230–280% in 2025 alone, depending on the exact measurement window. [9]
In other words: WDC is no longer a forgotten storage name—it’s now one of Wall Street’s most closely watched AI infrastructure plays.
All the Western Digital Stock News You Need From November 29, 2025
Here are the key WDC‑related headlines dated November 29, 2025, and what they actually mean for investors:
1. Analyst Round‑Up: “Here’s What Analysts Think About Western Digital (WDC)”
An InsiderMonkey piece, widely syndicated (including via Finviz), pulls together the latest Street calls and frames WDC as one of the 15 best performing AI stocks heading into 2026. [10]
Key points from that article:
- Bank of America Securities reiterated a Buy rating on November 20 and raised its price target from $170 to $197.
- TD Cowen boosted its target from $90 to $200 after October’s earnings strength.
- The piece notes that WDC has become a top‑tier AI storage play, but also flags that some alternative AI stocks may offer higher upside relative to risk.
For investors, this confirms that big Wall Street houses are still raising targets even after the huge run, and that the analyst conversation has shifted from “Is WDC a turnaround?” to “How much more room is left?”
2. Big New Stake: Ceredex Value Advisors Buys 468,100 WDC Shares
MarketBeat reported that Ceredex Value Advisors LLC initiated a new stake of 468,100 Western Digital shares in the second quarter, valued at about $29.95 million, representing roughly 0.13% of the company’s shares at quarter‑end. [11]
The same news stream shows:
- Multiple asset managers – including Coldstream Capital, Cetera, DNB Asset Management and others – have recently increased positions in WDC. [12]
- MarketBeat’s consensus view currently labels Western Digital a “Moderate Buy” with an average target around $162–$163 per share – very close to where the stock now trades. [13]
Takeaway: Institutional money is still flowing into WDC, but much of it built positions when the stock was meaningfully cheaper. With the share price now hugging the consensus target, the bullish case increasingly relies on targets continuing to shift higher, not just on mean reversion.
3. Smartkarma: “Western Digital Corporation’s Stock Price Soars to $163.33”
Smartkarma’s newswire flagged WDC’s latest surge to $163.33, marking a 3.5% daily gain on volume just over 3.2 million shares. [14]
The article frames the move in the context of:
- Western Digital’s relentless upward trend in 2025, and
- Continuing enthusiasm around AI‑driven demand for storage, particularly high‑capacity hard‑disk drives (HDDs).
This is effectively the “price action update” that ties together the fundamentals and sentiment: the stock is not just stable at higher levels—it’s still attracting fresh buying.
4. Weekend Rundown: Insider & Fund Activity Around WDC
A TipRanks “Weekend Updates” item titled “Western Digital, Norwegian Cruise, Lemonade, General Dynamics, EA: Insider Moves Unveiled!” highlights recent insider and institutional activity across multiple tickers, including Western Digital. [15]
Combined with separate reports showing:
- An insider sale by director Cole Martin earlier in November (around $1.6 million worth of stock near recent highs), and [16]
- A series of new or increased stakes from asset managers throughout November, [17]
…the picture is nuanced but constructive:
- Insiders are taking some profits after a massive rally – not surprising given the move from ~$30 to ~$160+.
- Institutional investors are, on balance, still adding exposure, signaling continued confidence in the AI storage story.
5. Valuation Models: Fair Value Still Above the Market Price
On November 29, valuation sites and quant models updated their numbers:
- One fair value model (Peter Lynch‑style) pegs WDC’s intrinsic value around $188 per share, implying about 15% upside from the current ~$163 level. [18]
- Simply Wall St recently argued that Western Digital appears undervalued versus a fair value estimate near $181 (using a last close around $155 in that analysis), but warned that investors should look beyond headline earnings. [19]
The message: several models still see upside, but the margin of safety has shrunk. WDC is no longer a single‑digit P/E orphan – it’s being priced much more like a premium AI infrastructure asset.
The Fundamental Backdrop: Why WDC Rallied So Hard in 2025
The November 29 headlines sit on top of a powerful fundamental story that unfolded throughout 2025.
Blowout Earnings and Upgraded Guidance
On October 30, 2025, Western Digital reported fiscal Q1 2026 (September quarter) results that crushed expectations:
- Revenue: about $2.82 billion, up roughly 27% year over year.
- Non‑GAAP EPS: around $1.78, beating consensus estimates by roughly $0.20 per share. [20]
A widely‑covered analysis from Investor’s Business Daily noted:
- Adjusted earnings were up about 137% year over year.
- Sales advanced 27% in the quarter.
- WDC’s stock was already up over 230% year‑to‑date at that point. [21]
Earlier, on July 30, 2025, Western Digital reported:
- Fiscal 2025 revenue of $9.52 billion, up 51% year over year.
- Q4 revenue of $2.61 billion, up 30% year over year.
- Strong free cash flow and debt reduction of $2.6 billion, alongside the launch of a cash dividend and the authorization of a $2.0 billion share repurchase program. [22]
Reuters also highlighted that Western Digital raised its quarterly dividend by 25% to $0.125 per share and guided strongly for the next quarter, pushing the stock up sharply in after‑hours trading. [23]
Put together, these numbers explain why WDC has morphed from a controversial cyclical to an earnings‑and‑cash‑flow momentum story.
AI & HPC Storage: Supercomputing 2025 and UltraSMR
On November 13, 2025, Western Digital issued a major press release:
“Trusted AI Storage Leader Western Digital Showcases Next‑Gen Innovation at Supercomputing 2025.” [24]
Highlights from that announcement:
- WDC is “unveiling next‑generation solutions and partnerships” at Supercomputing 2025 to boost performance, capacity, flexibility and scalability for AI and HPC workloads.
- The company is “democratizing” SMR HDD technology via high‑capacity UltraSMR drives in Ultrastar JBOD platforms, combined with OpenFlex disaggregated storage and RapidFlex NVMe‑over‑Fabrics controllers to eliminate storage bottlenecks. [25]
- An expanded Open Composable Compatibility Lab (OCCL) now includes partners like ASUS, Solidigm, Leil Storage and Swiss Vault, offering pre‑validated solutions to help customers scale storage independently of compute. [26]
Third‑party analyses have emphasized that these moves extend WDC’s reach beyond hyperscale cloud providers and into a wider range of AI, research, and enterprise environments, positioning the company as a core enabler of AI infrastructure rather than just a commodity drive vendor. [27]
Capital Returns: The $2 Billion Buyback
In May 2025, Western Digital’s board authorized a new $2.0 billion share repurchase program, effective immediately. [28]
Management framed the buyback as:
- A vote of confidence in the company’s long‑term cash generation, and
- A key component of Western Digital’s broader capital‑return strategy, alongside the newly initiated dividend. [29]
For shareholders, this means the company has significant flexibility to support the stock during pullbacks or to offset dilution—particularly important after the recent surge.
How Wall Street is Valuing Western Digital Now
Target Prices Are Chasing the Stock Higher
Across recent reports, analysts have been aggressively lifting price targets:
- Morgan Stanley: target raised to $171 from $99, citing AI and cloud‑driven demand, according to StocksToTrade’s October coverage. [30]
- Mizuho: target lifted from $120 to $160, reflecting stronger AI demand and rising NAND pricing. [31]
- Evercore ISI & Loop Capital: Evercore boosted its target toward $190, while Loop Capital raised its target to $150, and later to $250, arguing that higher‑capacity HDD demand is in the early innings of a multi‑year upcycle. [32]
- Bank of America: raised its target from $170 to $197 and reiterated a Buy rating on November 20. [33]
Zacks and other services describe Wall Street’s stance as broadly bullish, frequently listing Western Digital among top aggressive growth or AI beneficiaries. [34]
At the same time, MarketBeat’s average target of about $162 is now roughly in line with the current price, reflecting that some analysts haven’t fully updated their models yet—or simply see limited short‑term upside from here. [35]
Quant & Fundamental Models: Undervalued, Fairly Valued, or Stretched?
Depending on the lens:
- Fair value models (like Peter Lynch P/E approaches) suggest WDC is moderately undervalued, with estimates near $188 per share vs. the current ~$163. [36]
- Simply Wall St’s DCF‑style valuation recently put fair value around $181, implying low double‑digit percentage upside, though they caution that headline earnings may overstate sustainable profitability. [37]
- GuruFocus’ GF Score, however, assigns Western Digital a 68/100, arguing that weaker scores on growth and valuation mean the stock may struggle to outperform the market from here despite its three‑month rally of ~93%. [38]
The overall picture: valuation is no longer trivially cheap. Bulls see room for further upside if AI storage demand and margin expansion continue; skeptics warn that WDC now embeds a lot of good news.
Key Risks Investors Should Watch
Even on a good news day like November 29, a few risks loom large:
- Cyclical Memory & Storage Pricing
A recent GuruFocus piece on Kioxia’s weak earnings highlighted how quickly memory‑related stocks can tumble when pricing or demand disappoint. Western Digital and peers have already experienced sharp swings tied to such headlines. [39] - AI Spending Normalization
Reuters previously pointed out that both Seagate and Western Digital are up more than 200% in 2025 on AI data‑center demand. If hyperscaler capex normalizes or shifts toward alternative architectures, WDC’s growth rates could slow, pressuring the multiple. [40] - Execution on New Platforms (UltraSMR, OCCL)
Western Digital’s Supercomputing 2025 message hinges on successful adoption of UltraSMR drives, OpenFlex architectures, and its expanded OCCL ecosystem. If customers hesitate to adopt these solutions at scale, the thesis of “AI infrastructure kingmaker” weakens. [41] - Post‑Spin Competitive Landscape with SanDisk
Western Digital completed a spin‑out of its SanDisk flash business earlier this year, and both companies have been strong performers. While this separation is meant to sharpen each segment’s focus, it also means flash and HDD now trade as separate stories, and investors must watch how synergies—or competition—play out. [42] - Position Size and Volatility
With a 52‑week range from $28.83 to $178.45, WDC has been extremely volatile. That cuts both ways: it can amplify upside when the narrative is favorable—and downside when sentiment swings. [43]
What November 29’s News Really Signals for WDC Stock
Taken together, today’s headlines reinforce a simple message:
- The story is still working.
Analyst targets are still drifting higher, AI/HPC product news from Supercomputing 2025 continues to filter through the market, and institutional investors are building positions rather than dumping them. [44] - The easy money has probably been made.
With WDC up several hundred percent this year and trading near or above some consensus targets, investors are no longer buying a deep value turnaround—they’re buying a momentum‑charged AI infrastructure leader with all the expectations that implies. [45] - From here, the stock is highly sensitive to execution and the AI cycle.
Future earnings reports, AI data‑center spending trends, and adoption of UltraSMR/OccL‑based solutions will likely drive the next big move—up or down.
If you’re following Western Digital stock:
- Keep an eye on upcoming earnings dates, AI/HPC deal announcements, and large 13F filings. [46]
- Compare the current price not just to the average target, but also to the more aggressive targets (near $200–$250) and fair value estimates (~$180–$190) that underpin the most bullish cases. [47]
- And always weigh those against your risk tolerance and time horizon, especially given how quickly sentiment can swing in cyclical tech.
Not Investment Advice
This article is for informational purposes only and is not personal investment advice, tax advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Markets involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Always do your own research or consult a licensed financial professional.
References
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