The logo of a Best Western hotel is seen in Hanau, Germany, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
(Reuters) -Western Digital Corp forecast fourth-quarter results above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, betting on stable demand for its storage devices from cloud providers, sending shares up 7% in premarket trading.
Demand for cloud computing, driven by advances in AI technology, has boosted investments in data centers that utilize memory chips from manufacturers such as Western Digital.
Western Digital's cloud market revenue rose 38% from a year earlier to $2.01 billion in the quarter ended March 28, representing 87% of total revenue.
"Even in a world marked by geopolitical uncertainty and shifting tariff dynamics, one thing remains constant: the exponential growth of data," said CEO Irving Tan.
The data storage products maker expects fourth-quarter revenue to be $2.45 billion, plus or minus $150 million, higher than analysts' estimates of $2.38 billion according to data compiled by LSEG.
It sees adjusted earnings per share to be $1.45, plus or minus 20 cents, compared with estimates of $1.16.
Western Digital's third-quarter revenue rose 31% from a year earlier to $2.29 billion, compared with estimates of $2.35 billion.
Rival Seagate on Tuesday forecast quarterly results above estimates, signaling steady demand for its storage and cloud devices for mass capacity storage used in personal computers.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
