Western Digital revenue rises 55% as it forecasts stronger storage demand

Western Digital (WDC) reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 results after the US market closed on October 22, with revenue up 55% from a year earlier to $4.38 billion. It also reported quarterly profit of $1.78 billion, supported by continued storage demand and improved pricing.^[1][2][3]

The company makes hard drives, which store data on magnetic disks, with high-capacity products serving cloud, enterprise and emerging artificial-intelligence markets.^[4] It forecast fiscal second-quarter revenue of $5.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million, representing 66%–72% annual growth; those sales remain a company forecast.^[2]

Cloud providers’ storage expansion feeds directly into drive purchases: Western Digital’s quarterly cloud revenue was about $3.9 billion, or 88% of sales, while the total storage capacity it shipped rose 22% year over year.^[5] Revenue growing faster than shipped capacity, alongside reported pricing gains and higher-capacity products, indicates that growth reflects both more storage sold and better pricing and product mix.^[5][6]

That supports drive makers’ revenue while exposing customers expanding storage facilities to higher drive purchase prices. However, analysts raised concerns about rising capital spending, possible increases in industry supply and demand durability: if new capacity outpaces demand growth, pricing power and investment returns could weaken.^[7][6]

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