Western Digital shares gain the most in seven weeks on Wednesday, company’s performance figures top market expectations

On January 25th the NASDAQ-listed data storage device producer Western Digital Corporation (WDC) reported better-than-anticipated earnings per share and revenue during the second quarter ended on December 30th, as demand for PC components continued to recover, while more business areas shifted to cloud storage.

Western Digital shares registered their largest daily surge since December 7th on Wednesday, while also marking a fourth straight session of gains. The stock went up 5.28% ($4.01) to $80.02, after touching a daily high at $81.26, or a level not seen since October 19th 2015 ($82.73). In the week ended on January 22nd the shares of the data storage device manufacturer added 2.30% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a third consecutive period of gains. The stock has extended its advance to 17.76% so far during the current month, after surging 6.74% in December. The latter has been a second straight month of gains. For the entire 2016, the shares of the NASDAQ 100-featured manufacturer added 13.16%.

Western Digitals earnings per share, excluding special items, were reported at $2.30 during the second quarter ended on December 30th. The median forecast by analysts had pointed to earnings of $2.12 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The companys total revenue expanded to $4.89 billion during the quarter ended on December 30th from $3.32 billion during the same period a year ago. This actual figure also surpassed the market consensus, pointing to $4.76 billion in revenue.

On the other hand, Western Digitals net income was reported to have shrunk to $235 million (80 cents a share) during the quarter from $251 million ($1.07 a share) during the same period a year earlier.

The shift to high-performance and cost-effective NAND flash drives seemed to have provided benefits to the Irvine, California-based company. In May 2016, Western Digital acquired SanDisk in order to enhance its NAND flash technology.

Earlier this week rival company Seagate Technology Plc released better-than-projected earnings figures and also revised up its revenue forecast for the present quarter, citing sound demand for cloud-based storage products.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Western Digital stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $80.22
R2 – $80.42
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $80.61
R4 (Long Breakout) – $81.21
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $81.90
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $82.21

S1 – $79.82
S2 – $79.62
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $79.43
S4 (Short Breakout) – $78.83
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $78.14
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $77.83

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Western Digital Corporation (WDC) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $72.28
R1 – $73.82
R2 – $75.02
R3 – $76.56
R4 – $78.11

S1 – $71.08
S2 – $69.54
S3 – $68.34
S4 – $67.15