Lake Forest-based disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. sees better-than-expected market conditions in the June quarter, according to a government filing.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Western Digital upped its outlook for the three months through July 3, but it didn’t give any specific dollar amounts.
The company said demand is tracking ahead of expectations and that its stockpiles remain at historically low levels.
It also said that declines in the average selling prices of hard drives that go into computers, consumer electronics and other devices for desktop and notebook computers have been at the lower end of the anticipated range.
For the current quarter, analysts are expecting profits of $51 million on sales of $1.5 billion.
Needham & Co. analyst Richard Kugele upped his estimates for the company on Thursday.
For the June quarter, Kugele expects Western Digital to report profits of $58 million on revenue of $1.6 billion.
He increased his price target on Western Digital? stock to $30 a share, up from a previous target of $26 a share. The company was trading at around $25 a share on Thursday.
?estern Digital? relentless cost controls and tight utilization management continue to position the company to weather downturns and benefit from upside when it occurs,?Kugele said in a research note.
Wall Street seemed to shrug off the rosier outlook.
Western Digital? shares were off about 1% at close of trading on a recent market value of $5.5 billion.
