Western Digital 1Q Profit Grows on Data Storage Demand

By Elias Schisgall

Western Digital reported a higher profit and revenue in the fiscal first quarter, driven by continued data storage demand and improved pricing.

The company, which makes hard disk drives that are used in computers and artificial-intelligence data centers, on Thursday reported a profit of $1.78 billion, or $4.63 a share. That compares with a profit of $1.15 billion, or $3.07 a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted earnings were $4.64 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $4.11 a share.

Revenue grew to $4.38 billion from $2.82 billion. Analysts had been expecting $4.14 billion in revenue.

"Our first-quarter results demonstrate the continued momentum in our business, with robust exabyte growth and improved pricing driving another quarter of strong financial performance," Chief Financial Officer Kris Sennesael said.

For the current fiscal second quarter, the company guided for adjusted earnings of between $5.60 and $6.00 a share on revenue between $5 billion and $5.2 billion.

Analysts currently expect first-quarter adjusted earnings of $4.84 a share on $4.57 billion in revenue.

The company also lifted its quarterly dividend by 17% to 17.5 cents a share.

The new payout, equal to 70 cents a year, represents a 0.2% annual yield based on the company's Thursday closing price of $354.19. The dividend is payable on Dec. 17 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 4.

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 22, 2026 16:30 ET (20:30 GMT)