Western Digital (WDC, Financial) experienced a significant stock increase, climbing over 8% at $71.935. The rise in stock is attributed to the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, which has significantly boosted demand for data center storage products, leading to a surge in the company's cloud business sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2024.
For the quarter ending September 27, Western Digital reported a profit of $493 million, or $1.35 per share. This marks a turnaround from a net loss of $700 million, or a loss of $2.17 per share, in the same period the previous year. The adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.78, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.71 according to a FactSet survey.
The company's revenue increased by nearly 50% to approximately $4.1 billion, slightly below the analysts' prediction of $4.12 billion. The growth was primarily driven by a 153% year-over-year increase in sales of nearline storage products to data center customers, which led the overall revenue growth for Western Digital.
