Quarterly results
Western Digital released data for its fiscal first quarter 2027, ended October 2, 2026, as reported by IT之家. Revenue reached $43.81 billion, up 55% from the same period a year earlier and 17% from the immediately preceding quarter.
Net income attributable to shareholders stood at $17.79 billion, up 54% year over year but down 44% from the previous quarter. Diluted earnings per share were $4.63, while basic earnings per share reached $4.86.
Margins and profitability
GAAP gross margin reached 57.8%, up 14.3 percentage points year over year and 3.7 points from the previous quarter. Non-GAAP gross margin was 58.1%. The company generated operating cash flow of $16.04 billion and free cash flow of $13.77 billion.
The board of directors announced a 17% increase in the quarterly cash dividend, raising it to $0.18 per share. According to the article, the move reflects confidence in business growth.
Outlook and context
For its fiscal second quarter 2027, Western Digital expects revenue of between $50 billion and $52 billion, with year-over-year growth of between 66% and 72%. The company estimates a non-GAAP gross margin of between 60% and 61% and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of between $5.60 and $6.00.
The company attributes the performance to strong storage demand tied to the AI-driven data economy. Western Digital describes itself as a storage infrastructure provider, with a focus on high-capacity hard drives for hyperscalers, cloud service providers and enterprise customers.
The sequential decline in net income, despite year-over-year growth, merits attention: the figure suggests the previous quarter was exceptionally strong. It remains to be seen whether the decline reflects seasonality or other factors, as the material provides no details on this.
