Mark Long Appointed EVP, Finance; Will
Succeed Olivier Leonetti as CFO on Sept. 1; Company Announces
Preliminary Fourth Fiscal Quarter Financial Results and Earnings
Date of July 28
Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) today announced the
appointment of Mark Long to oversee the company’s finance
organization as executive vice president, finance, in addition to
his role as chief strategy officer. Long will succeed Olivier
Leonetti as chief financial officer on Sept. 1, 2016. Leonetti is
leaving the company to pursue other opportunities but will continue
as CFO through Sept. 1, 2016, reporting to CEO Steve Milligan, and
will oversee the completion of the company’s fiscal year-end
reporting requirements. He will continue in an advisory role to the
CEO through Oct. 1, 2016.
“The company is going through a strategic and organizational
transformation with the integration of our HGST and WD subsidiaries
as well as integrating the recently completed acquisition of
SanDisk,” said Milligan. “Although in the early stages, we are
already seeing the benefits of these strategic steps. As we build
on our strategy-driven focus in a tightly integrated manner, it is
the right time to combine the strategy and finance organizations
and Mark Long is the right leader of this integrated team, with his
extensive experience in financial and strategic planning. Olivier
Leonetti has made a tremendous contribution to Western Digital in
nearly two years as CFO. He played a key role through the
successful planning, financing and completion of the SanDisk
acquisition. The company is grateful for his contribution and his
continued stewardship of our finances through the fiscal year-end
reporting process.”
“I am proud of what we have accomplished at Western Digital,
particularly the successful completion of the transaction with
SanDisk,” said Leonetti, who joined WDC as CFO in 2014. “Western
Digital has a first-class executive team and I am confident that
the finance and strategy organization is in good hands with
Mark.”
“I am honored to succeed Olivier and look forward to working
with the entire team as we continue on the path of long-term value
creation for all of our stakeholders,” said Long. “I cannot think
of a more exciting time to step into this position as we integrate
and evolve. There are significant opportunities ahead of us as we
come together and strive to reach our potential as the leading
storage solutions provider.”
Long has served as the chief strategy officer at Western Digital
and HGST over the past three years and will continue in that role.
He played a lead role in conceiving, executing and completing the
SanDisk acquisition in addition to several other acquisitions.
Preliminary Fourth Fiscal Quarter Financial Results; Sets Q4
Earnings Call for July 28th
The company also reported preliminary financial results for its
fourth fiscal quarter ended July 1, 2016. Reflecting the ownership
of SanDisk Corp. as of May 12, 2016, the company now expects its
fourth quarter revenue to be approximately $3.46 billion, compared
to its earlier forecast of $3.35 billion to $3.45 billion. Non-GAAP
gross margin is expected to be approximately 31 percent, consistent
with its earlier forecast. The company now expects fourth quarter
EPS, on a non-GAAP basis, to be approximately $0.72, compared with
its earlier forecast range of $0.65 to $0.70.[1] The company will
report its final results for the fourth fiscal quarter after the
market closes on July 28, 2016.
About Western Digital
Western Digital is an industry-leading provider of storage
technologies and solutions that enable people to create, leverage,
experience and preserve data. The company addresses ever-changing
market needs by providing a full portfolio of compelling,
high-quality storage solutions with customer-focused innovation,
high efficiency, flexibility and speed. Our products are marketed
under the HGST, SanDisk and WD brands to OEMs, distributors,
resellers, cloud infrastructure providers and consumers. Financial
and investor information is available on the company's Investor
Relations website at investor.wdc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including statements concerning the company’s preliminary
financial results for its fourth fiscal quarter ended July 1, 2016
and expectations regarding the company’s strategic and operational
transformation and growth opportunities, plans and objectives
of management. These forward-looking statements are based on
management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.
The preliminary financial results for the company’s fourth fiscal
quarter ended July 1, 2016 included in this press release represent
the most current information available to management. The company’s
actual results may differ from these preliminary results due to the
completion of the company’s financial closing procedures, final
adjustments and other developments that may arise between the date
of this press release and the time that financial results for the
fourth fiscal quarter ended July 1, 2016 are finalized. Other risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking
statements include: volatility in global economic conditions;
business conditions and growth in the storage ecosystem; impact of
competitive products and pricing; market acceptance and cost of
commodity materials and specialized product components; actions by
competitors; unexpected advances in competing technologies; our
development and introduction of products based on new technologies
and expansion into new data storage markets; risks associated with
acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures; difficulties or delays in
manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties listed in the
company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“SEC”), including the company’s Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May
9, 2016, to which your attention is directed. You should not place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no
obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect
new information or events.
Western Digital, WD, the HGST logo, SanDisk and G-Technology are
registered trademarks or trademarks of Western Digital Corporation
or its affiliates in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other
trademarks, registered trademarks, and/or service marks, indicated
or otherwise, are the property of their respective owners.
[1] This press release includes an update to the company’s
financial guidance relating to non-GAAP gross margin and non-GAAP
EPS. Non-GAAP gross margin is a non-GAAP measure defined as
non-GAAP gross profit divided by revenue. Non-GAAP gross profit is
a non-GAAP measure defined as gross profit before any charges to
cost of goods sold that may not be indicative of ongoing
operations. Non-GAAP EPS is a non-GAAP measure defined as diluted
net income per common share adjusted to exclude: amortization of
acquired tangible assets; employee termination, asset impairment
and other charges; charges related to cost saving initiatives;
acquisition-related charges; other charges; and income tax
adjustments.
The company has not reconciled non-GAAP gross margin or non-GAAP
EPS to the most directly comparable GAAP measures (gross margin and
diluted net income per common share, respectively) because material
items that impact these measures, such as the timing and amount of
charges related to cost saving initiatives and employee
termination, asset impairment and other charges and the amount of
amortization of acquired intangible assets and acquisition-related
charges, are out of our control and/or cannot be reasonably
predicted until the company completes its financial closing
procedures for the fourth fiscal quarter ended July 1, 2016.
Accordingly, reconciliations of non-GAAP gross margin and non-GAAP
EPS to the corresponding GAAP financial measures are not available
without unreasonable effort.
Non-GAAP gross margin and non-GAAP EPS are not in accordance
with, or an alternative for, measures prepared in accordance with
GAAP and may be different from similar non-GAAP measures used by
other companies. The company believes the presentation of non-GAAP
gross margin and non-GAAP EPS provides useful information to
investors for measuring the company’s operating and earnings
performance and comparing it against prior periods.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160706006322/en/
Western Digital Investor RelationsBob Blair,
949.672.7834robert.blair@wdc.comorWestern Digital CorporationJim
Pascoe, 408.717.5950jim.pascoe@wdc.com
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