Western Digital (WDC) Launches 64-Layer 3D NAND-based SSDs

Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) recently announced the launch of the world’s first client solid state drives (SSDs) built with its 64-layer 3D NAND technology. The drives have been named WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD and SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD.

Both the products will be available in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, at an approximate retail price of $99 as suggested by manufacturers.

While WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD is meant for Do-It-Yourself (DIY) enthusiasts and system builders, SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD targets computer gamers. According to Forbes, the products will be available by late summer 2017.

We believe that the newly launched products will provide Western Digital a first mover’s advantage against peers like Micron (NASDAQ:MU) , NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) and Samsung (KS:005930) in the SSD market.

Following the announcement, shares increased 1.42% to close at $91.29 on May 30. We note that the stock has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past one year. While the stock returned a whopping 96.1%, the index gained 15.2% over the same time frame.

New SSDs Strengthen Product Portfolio

SSD drives are much in demand due to their low power consumption feature and non-volatile capacious flash memory. The company’s growing clout in the flash memory market and launch of a string of storage devices under the mobile and cloud segment are driving top-line growth. In the last quarter, revenues surged 64.7% year over year to $4.65 billion.

Further, Western Digital’s entry into the wireless devices market comes at a time when storage services related to smartphones and tablets are witnessing large-scale adoption, which is anticipated to be a tailwind.

The company has witnessed strong demand for both hard drive and NAND-based products from all categories of customers, which has been a key catalyst.

Moreover, Western Digital’s acquisition of SanDisk last year boosted its revenues. We believe that it placed the company ahead of Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) as far as innovation is concerned.

Zacks Rank

Western Digital sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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