Western Digital's Q1 fiscal quarter results and Q2 guidance both beat expectations, yet failed to prevent a sharp stock decline.

BlockBeats news, October 23 — Western Digital, driven by persistently strong demand for data storage and improved product pricing, comprehensively beat market expectations in its first fiscal quarter and raised its quarterly dividend.

The company reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $4.381 billion, up 55% year-over-year, versus analysts' prior expectation of $4.14 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $4.64, up 161% year-over-year, compared with the $4.11 per share expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter, Western Digital expects adjusted earnings per share of $5.60 to $6.00, with revenue in the range of $5 billion to $5.2 billion. By comparison, analysts had expected adjusted earnings per share of $4.84 and revenue of $4.57 billion for the quarter, with the midpoint of the company's guidance significantly exceeding market expectations.

Despite Western Digital's strong results, storage and AI-related concept stocks remain under overall pressure. Doubts over whether large-scale capital expenditure can generate effective returns in the near term have not dissipated, and this sentiment continues to weigh on sector valuations. Following the earnings release, the stock briefly rose before falling sharply, down 6.3% in after-hours trading as of press time.