The stock of Western Digital Corp. (WDC) is up 11% after the data storage company reported third-quarter financial results that showed strong growth in its cloud computing segment.
The Silicon Valley-based company announced earnings per share of $1.78 U.S., which beat the $1.71 U.S. that was forecast among analysts.
Revenue in the quarter totaled $4.10 billion U.S., which narrowly missed estimates of $4.12 billion U.S.
Despite the mixed results, Western Digital’s stock is marching higher on news that the company’s revenue from its cloud computing division increased 17% to $2.21 billion U.S.
Management said that the artificial intelligence (A.I.) boom has powered a recovery in memory chip demand as cloud service providers build infrastructure to support new A.I. applications.
Looking ahead, Western Digital said it expects revenue in the current quarter of $4.20 billion U.S. to $4.40 billion U.S. Analysts had forecast fourth quarter revenue of $4.34 billion U.S.
The company added that it anticipates earnings of $1.75 U.S. to $2.05 U.S. Wall Street consensus called for EPS of $1.93 U.S.
Before today (Oct. 25), the stock of Western Digital had risen 30% so far this year to trade at $66.32 U.S. per share.