UPDATE: FBN Securities Downgrades Western Digital to Sector Perform, Reiterates $45 PT

In a report published Friday, FBN Securities downgraded its rating on Western Digital Corp.

from Outperform to Sector Perform, and reiterated its $45.00 price target. FBN noted, “We are downgrading shares of WDC from Outperform to Sector Perform, but we retain our $45PT due to higher GM estimates. We were getting concerned after Intel's preannouncement and recent weak PC results from HP and Dell, but decided to wait until we performed more checks. However, yesterday, at WDC's Analyst's Day, the company provided an update that was lower than before and noted challenging conditions. It now expects FQ1/Sept. revenue of $3.9-$4.0B (below prior $4.2B-$4.3B guidance) and GM of ~30%. It also expects a CQ3 HDD industry TAM of 140M units (below its prior 157M expectation and current consensus estimates of around 150M, we believe).” Western Digital Corp. closed on Thursday at $42.58.