In a research report issued last Wednesday, Zacks Investment Research raised the rating of Western Digital Corporation (WDC) from a "hold" to "buy" rating setting the target price of $60 for the stock of the data service provider. The indicated price target predicts an 11.4% increase for the current WDC stock.
Zacks based the report on the rising price of NAND chips which WDC have in stock after it acquired SanDisk. The projected price increase comes from an unexpected surge in demand for mobiles and servers.
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The projected demand increase is expected to overwhelm production volumes leading to product shortage and higher prices. The situation is expected to favorably affect the overall market performance of other product lines.
Competition from other major suppliers is bound to be strong and may affect the stock's performance in the long run.
A research analyst from Brean Capital has also set a "buy" rating with an optimistic price target of $97 per share of WDC stock. Most research analysts agreed on the "buy" rating but have differing price projections. Stifel Nicolaus set the projected price at $75 a share with BTIG issuing a price of $55, and Royal Bank of Canada at $56 per share.
With few analysts issuing "hold" and "sell" ratings, the average target for the WDC stocks came to $64.73. The actual average moving price of the Western Digital Corp stocks for 200 days was $47.68 and the 50-day average was $54.93.
Actual performance of the stocks was, more or less, within the range set by market analysts.
Other data that can affect stock performance are the earnings report which showed a $0.79 per share on the WDC stocks in the quarter ended July 28. The sales of personal shares made by company officers may also affect the price performance of the stock.
There's so much to watch for in the business of stock trading.
