Topic: How To Invest

Pat: I’m interested in your analysis of Western Digital. Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Western Digital Corp., $95.23, symbol WDC on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 231.0 million; Market cap: $22.0 billion, www.westerndigital.com), develops, makes and sells hard-disk drives, which are mainly used in desktop computers, notebook computers, business applications and consumer electronics. Computer makers account for 63% of Western Digital’s revenue. The rest comes from direct sales to consumers and businesses. The company’s main competitors are Seagate and Toshiba. In its fiscal 2015 third quarter, which ended April 3, 2015, Western Digital’s revenue fell 4.1%, to $3.55 billion from $3.70 billion a year earlier. Weak computer demand cut the company’s hard-drive sales by 8.3%, to 55.4 million units from 60.4 million Overall earnings fell 6.2%, to $441 million from $470 million, while per-share profits declined 3.6%, to $1.87 from $1.94, on fewer shares outstanding. The company spends a high 11% of its revenue on research. To cut its reliance on personal computer sales, Western Digital is expanding into faster-growing areas, such as hard drives for servers. That will help…