Western Digital and Kioxia finalized ongoing merger talks last week
Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) stock is flat this morning despite a bull note from Deutsche Bank. The Wall Street broker lifted its price target on WDC to $50 from $40.
On Friday, the chipmaker finalized plans to “spin off its semiconductor memory business,” and merge with Japanese-based computer memory manufacturer Kioxia. The new memory business will operate under a single holding company, which Kioxia will own 63% of.
The news and bull note could both spur short-term options traders to change their tune, as they’ve been more pessimistic than usual of late. WDC’s Schaeffer’s put/call open interest ratio that sits in the 82nd percentile of annual readings, implying a strong put-bias at the moment.
On the charts, the equity is flirting with its Oct. 5, more than one-year high of $47.14. Support from its 20-day moving average helped Western Digital stock move higher in recent weeks, and it now boasts a nearly 45% year-to-date lead.
Given the robust 30% year-over-year lead, additional analysts could also follow Deutsche Bank’s lead. The stock’s 12-month average target price of $47.84 is a nearly 5% premium to Friday’s close while six of 14 covering brokerages rate WDC a “hold” or worse, which could result in upgrades soon.