Western Digital sees first-quarter revenue below estimates on weak demand for data storage products

Western Digital

31/07/2024 22:26

July 31 (Reuters) - Western Digital Corp  WDC.O 
forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on
Wednesday, signaling a slower-than-expected recovery in the
company's data storage products.
    The AI boom has helped some memory chipmakers such as Micron
technology  MU.O  in the middle of a steep industry downturn,
but the demand for chips used in conventional data centers
continues to fall, hurting memory chip companies like WDC.
    Shares of the company were down 4.2% in extended trading.
    The data storage products maker expects first-quarter
revenue in the range $4 billion to $4.20 billion, compared with
analysts' estimates of $4.22 billion, according to LSEG data. 
    It sees adjusted earnings per share in the range of $1.55 to
$1.85, compared with estimates of $1.74.  
    Western Digital's fourth-quarter revenue stood at $3.76
billion beating analysts' average expectations of $3.74 billion.
    The adjusted profit per share came in at 88 cents, compared
with estimates of $1.17.
    Revenue of the company's flash memory business which is
expected to operate separately from its traditional hard disk
drive unit by the second half of 2024, rose nearly 28% to $1.76
billion.
    Rival Seagate Technology  STX.O  forecast upbeat revenue for
its first quarter last week, driven by increased demand for
memory chips from personal computing and data center clients.   
    

 (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City and Priyanka.G; Editing
by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)
 ((Juby.Babu@thomsonreuters.com;))