Western Digital (WDC) Reports Network Security Breach

Western Digital (WDC) Reports Network Security Breach

Western Digital Corporation WDC disclosed a security breach that has affected some of its systems. The company reported that on Mar 26, 2023, an unauthorized third party was able to gain access to several of its systems.

The company stated that it had taken steps to address the issue, which included implementing an incident response plan and initiating an investigation. It also implemented leading outside security and forensic experts to assist with the investigation, which is still in the early stages, added to the company.

Western Digital is also cooperating with law enforcement authorities to address the matter. It is taking proactive steps to safeguard its business operations, such as turning off systems and services, and it will continue to do so as necessary, adding to the company.

Western Digital Corporation Price and Consensus

Western Digital Corporation Price and Consensus

Western Digital Corporation Price and Consensus

Western Digital Corporation price-consensus-chart | Western Digital Corporation Quotes

The breach has caused some disruption to the company’s operations, and WDC is focused on remediating the issue. The company is working to restore affected infrastructure and services, and it is actively investigating the nature and scope of the data obtained by unauthorized parties.

Western Digital is one of the leading hard disk drive producers globally, which are used in desktop PCs, servers, network-attached storage devices, video game consoles, etc.

The company’s performance is affected by weakening consumer demand owing to prevailing global macroeconomic uncertainties and rising inflation. Also, the company expects enterprise solid-state drive product demand to be affected as large cloud customers have entered the “digestion period.”

For third-quarter fiscal 2023, the company expects non-GAAP revenues in the range of $2.6-$2.8 billion. It had reported revenues of $4.381 billion a year ago. Management projects a non-GAAP loss per share between $1.40 and $1.70 against the year-ago earnings of $1.65 per share.

The company reported a second-quarter fiscal 2023 non-GAAP loss of 42 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 8 cents. The company had reported earnings of $2.30 per share in the prior-year quarter.

However, revenues of $3.107 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.1%. The top line decreased 36% year over year.

At present, WDC carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of the company have lost 22.7% compared with the sub-industry’s decline of 16.7%.

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology space are Arista Networks ANET, Perion Network PERI and Pegasystems PEGA, each presently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Arista Networks’ 2023 earnings has increased 11.5% in the past 60 days to $5.79 per share. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 14.2%.

Arista Networks’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, the average being 14.2%. Shares of ANET have increased 16.9% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Perion’s 2023 earnings has increased 16% in the past 60 days to $2.69 per share. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 25%.

Perion’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the last four quarters, the average being 31.7%. Shares of PERI have increased 70.5% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pegasystems’ 2023 earnings has increased 101.5% in the past 60 days to $1.35 per share.

Pegasystems’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 11.2%. Shares of the company have declined 43.1% in the past year.

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Western Digital Corporation (WDC): Free Stock Analysis Report

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