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What's in Store for Western Digital (WDC) Ahead of Q4 Earnings

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Western Digital (WDC - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Aug 5.

For the to-be-reported quarter, the company projects non-GAAP earnings in the range of $1.60-$1.90. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $1.76 per share, suggesting a decrease of 18.5% from the year-ago quarter’s levels.

Western Digital expects non-GAAP revenues between $4.5 billion and $4.7 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is currently pegged at $4.61 billion, indicating a decline of 6.2% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

The company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 17.4%, on average.

Western Digital Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

 

Western Digital Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Western Digital Corporation price-eps-surprise | Western Digital Corporation Quote

 

Factors to Note Ahead of Q4 Release

Western Digital’s fiscal fourth-quarter performance is likely to be driven by the company’s robust product portfolio, especially new product ramps in HDD and flash, amid investments in digital transformation by business enterprises. Strong cloud data center demand and recovery in enterprise markets are expected to have acted as tailwinds.

The company’s energy-assisted drives (18 and 20 terabytes) and the company’s second-generation NVMe enterprise SSDs are witnessing strong demand from cloud providers and big enterprise OEMs.  The company’s innovations in OptiNAND and SMR to drive its capacity enterprise business bode well.

The company’s WD Black product line is expected to have incremental adoption as gamers move toward more customized gaming solutions. Steady traction seen for the SanDisk brand of retail products is expected to have positively impacted the top line.

Coming to the product group, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Flash revenues is pegged at $2.447 billion. Flash revenues are likely to gain from higher demand for second-generation NVMe enterprise SSDs and the ramp-up of new 5G phones incorporating the company’s latest BiCS5 flash solutions.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal fourth-quarter hard disk drive (or “HDD”) revenues is pegged at $2.181 billion. HDD revenues are expected to have benefitted mainly from higher product demand from the cloud end-market.

Declining trends witnessed in PC shipments in the second quarter of the calendar year 2022 are likely to have dented the company’s performance in the quarter under review.

Weakness in macroeconomic conditions, persistent supply chain troubles and component shortages witnessed globally are likely to have affected the company’s performance in the quarter to be reported.

Higher costs associated with ramping up next-generation energy-assisted hard drives and increasing COVID-19-related expenses amid stiff competition in the disk drive market might have dented fiscal fourth-quarter profits.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model doesn’t predict an earnings beat for Western Digital this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat.

Western Digital has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some stocks you may consider as our proven model shows that these have the right mix of elements to beat estimates this time.

Lumen Technologies (LUMN - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.73% and a Zacks Rank of 1. Lumen Technologies is set to announce quarterly figures on Aug 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lumen’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at 46 cents per share and $4.6 billion, respectively. Lumen surpassed earnings estimates in the preceding four quarters, with the average surprise being 17.6%. Shares of LUMN have lost 13.5% in the past year.
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Suncor Energy (SU - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +11.91% and currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1. SU is slated to release quarterly numbers on Aug 4.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SU’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $1.74 per share and $9.9 billion, respectively. SU surpassed earnings estimates in two of the preceding four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 3.6%. Shares of SU have gained 69.1% in the past year.

MercadoLibre, Inc (MELI - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +16.2% and a Zacks Rank #3 currently. MELI is slated to release quarterly numbers on Aug 3.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MELI’s to-be-reported quarter’s earnings and revenues is pegged at $1.68 per share and $2.47 billion, respectively. MELI surpassed earnings estimates in two of the preceding four quarters and missed in the remaining quarters. The average surprise stands at 312.1%.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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