Western Digital Q3 Results Climb, Sees Q4 Adj. EPS Above Market; Declares Dividend; Stock Climbs

(RTTNews) - Western Digital Corp. (WDC), while reporting higher third-quarter results, on Wednesday issued outlook for its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings above market estimates.

Further, the company's Board of Directors authorized the adoption of a quarterly cash dividend program beginning with the quarter ending June 27, and declared a cash dividend of $0.10 per share, payable on June 18 to shareholders of record as of June 4.

In pre-market activity on the Nasdaq, Western Digital shares were gaining around 7.1 percent to trade at $43.50.

For the fourth quarter, the company projects adjusted earnings per share between $1.25 and $1.65 and revenues between $2.30 billion and $2.60 billion.

The Wall Street analysts on average expect the company to report earnings of $1.14 per share on revenues of $2.35 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Gross margin is projected to be 39.5 percent to 40.5 percent on a reported basis and 40.0 percent to 41.0 percent on an adjusted basis.

In the third quarter, Western Digital's earnings totaled $507 million or $1.42 per share, compared with $113 million, or $0.34 per share, last year.

Adjusted earnings were $487 million or $1.36 per share for the period.

The company's revenue for the period rose 30.9 percent to $2.294 billion from $1.752 billion last year.

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