Western Digital shares fell sharply in late trading Thursday after the disk-drive and flash memory chip company provided disappointing profit guidance for its fiscal second-quarter ending in December.
The company is one of many tech hardware providers struggling with supply-chain issues. Both Amazon.com and Apple posted disappointing results for the latest quarter, largely due to supply-chain woes, with parts shortages and high shipping costs taking a toll.
Western Digital (ticker: WDC) stock in after-hours trading fell 10.3% to $51.38.
For the September quarter, Western Digital posted revenue of $5.1 billion, up 29% from a year ago, about even with the Street at $5.06 billion. The company saw 72% growth in revenue related to the cloud, 6% growth in revenue for PCs and other devices, and 10% growth in storage devices sold at retail.
Non-GAAP profits were $2.49 a share, ahead of the Street consensus outlook at $2.45 a share. Under generally accepted accounting principles, the company earned $1.93 a share. Non-GAAP gross margin jumped to 33.9% from 26.3% a year ago.
“Strong demand across diverse end markets, particularly for our cloud products, combined with Western Digital’s strong innovation engine, broad routes to market, and sharpened execution, enabled us to deliver solid results within our guidance range, even in the face of significant Covid impacts and supply chain disruptions,” Western Digital CEO David Goeckeler said.
The company noted that revenue from consumer products sold at retail for both flash and hard-drive units declined from the June quarter due to supply disruptions.
For the December quarter, the company sees revenue of between $4.7 billion and $4.9 billion, with non-GAAP profits of between $1.95 and $2.25 a share. Street consensus had called for $5.3 billion in revenue and profits of $2.67 a share. The company projects non-GAAP gross margin in the quarter of between 32% and 34%.
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