Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC) stock is trading higher by more than 2% during Monday’s premarket session, extending Friday’s rally as optimism around the memory and storage market continues to support the stock.
Nasdaq futures are up 0.19%, while S&P 500 futures were little changed.
The latest gains follow a broader rally in memory and storage stocks after Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) outlined an upbeat multiyear financial outlook.
Other storage and memory names also gained, including Sandisk, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU).
Sandisk Outlook Lifts Storage Stocks
On Thursday, Sandisk shares surged after the company outlined targets that included an adjusted gross margin of about 80% and an adjusted free cash flow margin of roughly 50%.
Sandisk also plans to return 100% of excess cash to shareholders after investing in the business. The outlook strengthened expectations that favorable industry conditions could support storage companies, including Western Digital.
Technical Analysis
Western Digital remains in a longer-term uptrend. The stock is trading about 49% above its 200-day simple moving average of $349.72 and 7.8% above its 100-day SMA of $483.28.
However, shares remain about 5.7% below the 50-day SMA of $552.41. A move above that level could strengthen the intermediate trend.
Meanwhile, the 20-day SMA remains below the 50-day SMA, signaling weaker near-term momentum. However, the 50-day SMA remains above the 200-day SMA, which supports the longer-term bullish trend.
The relative strength index stands at 50.15. That neutral reading suggests the stock is neither overbought nor oversold.
Key resistance sits near $576.50, while support is around $510.50.
Western Digital has gained 566.93% over the past 12 months. The stock’s 52-week range is $73.14 to $799.87.
Analyst Outlook
The stock carries a Buy consensus rating with an average price forecast of $649.79.
Citigroup maintained a Buy rating on Aug. 7 but lowered its price forecast to $740. TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating on Aug. 6 and raised its forecast to $540. UBS maintained a Neutral rating and lowered its forecast to $525 on the same day.
Benzinga Edge Rankings
Western Digital scores strongly on momentum and quality in the Benzinga Edge Rankings. Its Momentum score stands at 99.32, while Quality is 95.99.
However, Value is weaker at 6.24, while Growth stands at 16.92. Overall, the rankings point to strong momentum and quality, offset by weaker value and growth scores.
Top ETF Exposure
Western Digital is a significant holding in several exchange-traded funds. The Alger 35 ETF (NYSE:ATFV) has a 6.73% weighting, while the Fidelity Cloud Computing ETF (NASDAQ:FCLD) has a 5.28% weighting. The NestYield Visionary ETF (NASDAQ:EGGQ) has a 7.33% weighting.
Price Action
Western Digital shares were up 2.11% at $519.55 during Monday’s premarket trading, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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