Western Digital earnings: first quarter 2027

Western Digital, the hard-drive maker, had a quarter of fast growth and much fatter margins: sales were $4.38 billion, up 55% on a year ago, and the company expects sales growth to speed up next quarter. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Earnings per share were $4.63 under standard rules and $4.64 on the company's adjusted basis, both above the $3.99 that analysts on average expected, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar. Since the results, forecasts for the year's earnings per share were raised at least 15 more times and not cut once, and analysts' average forecast for the year rose by 16.6%, from $20.85 to $24.32. ¹²

The strong points

• Sales rose 55% on a year ago, to $4.38 billion, and also grew clearly on the quarter before. ¹
• Of each dollar of sales, 57.8 cents was left after the direct cost of making the drives, against 43.5 cents a year ago. ¹
• Profit with one-off items stripped out, the company's own adjusted figure, was $4.64 per share, almost exactly the standard-rules figure, so this quarter's profit is a clean read. ¹

The weak points

• Only about 77 cents of each dollar of net income turned into free cash flow, the cash left after running and investing in the business. ¹
• The stock of unsold goods rose to $1,781 million, from $1,511 million three months earlier. ¹

What the company expects

• For the next quarter Western Digital expects sales up 66% to 72% on a year earlier, faster than this quarter's growth even at the low end; the release does not say how this compares with any earlier forecast. ¹
• Management describes demand as strong and says it has a clearer view of future demand, though it gives no order figures. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A very strong report. Sales and margins jumped, profit came in well above what analysts expected, and the company expects sales growth to speed up next quarter, with only a modest soft spot in how much profit turned into cash.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)

Notes

1. Western Digital's results release, 22 October 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 24 October 2026. ↩