Western Digital Hits 52-Week High Ahead of Earnings

Shares of Western Digital

surged on Tuesday ahead of the company's earnings report which is due out on Wednesday after the close. Late in the day, Western Digital was trading up more than 5 percent to $47.12. Shares of the company's rival Seagate Technology

had risen almost 6 percent to $37.42. Western Digital is now sitting at new 52-week highs after climbing a little less than 36 percent over the last year. Wall Street analysts have consensus earnings per share estimates for the fiscal fourth-quarter of $1.82. This implies year over year earnings growth of roughly 20.53 percent over the $1.51 the company reported in last year's fourth-quarter. The high earnings estimate on the Street is $2.03 with a low estimate of $1.71. Revenues are expected to be up more than 84 percent in the fourth-quarter to $3.68 billion compared to $2 billion last year. The high estimate is $3.94 billion with a low estimate of $3.60 billion. Over the last 3 months, earnings estimates for Western Digital have fallen $0.14 from $1.96 to the current estimate of $1.82. During this time, the stock has risen better than 33 percent. Given the big surge in the name on Tuesday, investors are clearly looking for an upside surprise when the company reports its results on Wednesday.