By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) are down about 15% in September after witnessing at least three rating cuts, including today from a Mizuho analyst.
Earlier this month, Benchmark and Deutsche Bank analysts also downgraded WDC to reflect a more challenging macro environment.
The Mizuho analyst joined the party today as he cut both WDC and Micron (NASDAQ:MU) to Neutral after checks showed steepening price declines and softening demand.
“We believe demand trends are weaker than expected, with PC/Handset weakness impacting DRAM-NAND pricing through 1H23E. While both MU and WDC have executed well with a robust and industry leading Memory portfolio and improving 22TB HDD, we see slowing consumer/ hyperscale demand and high inventory as headwinds,” he said in a client note.
The analyst also sees more downside risk over the next 4-6 months on the back of the weak macro and demand, as well as high inventory and continued supply growth.
Earlier today, a Wells Fargo analyst cut his estimates on Micron “meaningfully below Street.” The analyst also cut the price target to $75.
“The set-up into MU's upcoming (9/29) F4Q22 results appears very negative, as DRAM and NAND industry fundamentals continue to weaken,” he said in a client note.
A Stifel analyst initiated research coverage on Micron today with a Hold rating and a $56 per share price target.
“We are initiating coverage with a Hold rating, though our inclination is to be more constructive should key suppliers en masse take swifter and more severe actions to cut production and supply growth (capex),” he wrote to clients.
Micron shares are down 2% in premarket Wednesday.