Split should benefit both

Article Excerpt

WESTERN DIGITAL CORP. $45 is a hold. The company (Nasdaq symbol WDC; Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 347.8 million; Market cap: $15.7 billion; No dividend paid; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.westerndigital.com) completed the spinoff of its flash memory business as Sandisk Corp. (Nasdaq symbol SNDK) on February 24, 2025. Investors received one Sandisk share for every three Western Digital shares they held. Western Digital now focuses on computer hard drives. It still owns 19.9% of Sandisk, which it plans to hold for at least a year. As part of the spinoff, Sandisk also paid its former parent company a dividend of $1.5 billion. The split should let both companies better focus on their main businesses. However, both operate in highly cyclical industries, which adds to their risk. As well, both firms make most of their products in China and other parts of Asia, which increases their risk to U.S. tariffs. Western Digital and Sandisk are holds. holds…