The Dividend Daily

After hours on Wednesday hard drive maker Western Digital Corp. (WDC) posted a big spike in net income due to an increase in hard drive shipments. The second quarter results beat Wall Street estimates.

The Irvine, California-based company said its second quarter net income more than doubled from the same period a year earlier. Net income for the quarter was $335 million, or $1.36 per share, compared to $145 million, or 61 cents per share, in 2011.

Adjusted net income, which excludes one time items, was $2.09 per share. According to FactSet, analysts were expecting adjusted EPS to be $1.82

Second quarter revenue was up 92% compared to the year earlier period, coming in at $3.82 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue to be $3.67 billion.

The company was helped greatly by an increase in the number of hard drives shipped, sending out 59.2 million units in the quarter compared with 28.5 million units shipped in 2011.

Western Digital shares were down slightly during pre-market trading on Thursday. The stock is up +35.84% over the past year.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Western Digital (WDC) have a 2.12% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $47.07. The stock has technical support in the $42-$44 price area. The stock is trading near all-time highs.

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

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