Western Digital earnings: date, guidance and results
Western Digital's next results are expected on October 22, 2026. Watch whether the promised margin and adjusted EPS turn into operating cash flow.
What has Western Digital guided for the next quarter?
On August 5, Western Digital guided revenue of $4,000 million–$4,200 million for the quarter ending in October 2026. It forecast diluted non-GAAP earnings of $3.85–$4.15 per share.
| the period guided | low | high | the date it was given | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Quarter to Oct 2026 | 4,000 | 4,200 | Aug 5, 2026 |
| Gross margin | Quarter to Oct 2026 | 55.0% | 56.0% | Aug 5, 2026 |
| Operating expenses | Quarter to Oct 2026 | 390 | 400 | Aug 5, 2026 |
| Diluted net income per common share | Quarter to Oct 2026 | 3.85 | 4.15 | Aug 5, 2026 |
| Capital expenditures, % of net revenue | Five years FY2027–FY2031 | 4.0% | 6.0% | Aug 14, 2026 |
What this means. The capital expenditures percentage is the average expected across five years, not a separate target for each year.
Did Western Digital keep its past promises?
WD did deliver cash returns through dividends and substantially increased repurchases. But repurchases do not automatically shrink the ownership pie. Employee awards and the February 2026 conversion of preferred shares into common stock can issue shares while buybacks remove them.
What is Western Digital's revenue and profit trend?
Revenue increased in every quarter after the dip in March 2025, while gross margin improved across the eight-quarter series. Western Digital was therefore collecting more revenue and keeping more of each sales dollar. That pattern is stronger evidence than a single year-over-year comparison.
| Jul 2026 | Apr 2026 | Jan 2026 | Oct 2025 | Jun 2025 | Mar 2025 | Dec 2024 | Sep 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 3,747 | 3,337 | 3,017 | 2,818 | 2,605 | 2,294 | 2,409 | 2,212 |
| Gross margin | 54.1% | 50.2% | 45.7% | 43.5% | 41.0% | 39.8% | 37.7% | 36.4% |
| Operating income | 1,563 | 1,190 | 908 | 792 | 680 | 760 | 560 | 334 |
| Net income | 3,195 | 3,205 | 1,842 | 1,182 | 252 | 772 | 466 | 153 |
| EPS, diluted | 8.21 | 8.20 | 4.73 | 3.07 | 0.67 | 2.11 | 1.27 | 0.42 |
| = Free cash flow | 1,281 | 978 | 653 | 599 |
What this means. The unusually high net income and profit per share in the year to July 2026 mostly come from a one-time gain on retained Sandisk shares, not from selling more products.
What should I watch in Western Digital's next results?
The first checkpoint is October 22, 2026, when WD plans to report fiscal first-quarter results. Investors should compare revenue, margin and adjusted EPS with guidance, then examine operating cash flow, capital spending and the diluted share count together.
HAMR remained in qualification, with a 44TB target for the first half of calendar 2027. The roadmap also reaches toward 60TB ePMR and 100TB-plus HAMR, but those are targets, not shipments. An exabyte equals one million terabytes, so investors should track not just drive capacity but the exabytes shipped, production yield and repeat orders.