WDC vs DLB Stock Comparison

Western Digital and Dolby Laboratories Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
WDC Western Digital Corp
$356.13 -22.0% 1M +175.2% 1Y
Market cap
$133.31B
P/E
13.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.48B
Div. yield
0.16%
Server and Storage Hardware Technology
7 wins
DLB Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
$63.13 +7.7% 1M -6.3% 1Y
Market cap
$5.95B
P/E
26.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.35B
Div. yield
2.28%
Semiconductor EDA Software Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Western Digital leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Western Digital 7, Dolby Laboratories 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionWDCDLBLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $133.31B $5.95B WDC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 13.0x 26.3x WDC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.5x 14.1x DLB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +43.0% +0.6% WDC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 69.2% 16.7% WDC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 53.8% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.1x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.16% 2.28% DLB
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +175.2% -6.3% WDC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +53.4%/yr -6.4%/yr WDC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 81.2% 30.3% DLB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 70/100 WDC

Percentile Scorecard

WDCDLB

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisWDCDLB
Valuation 43 #24 of 41 90 #4 of 32
Growth 97 #2 of 37 28 #22 of 30
Profitability 94 #3 of 36 67 #10 of 28
Financial Health 59 #20 of 47 65 #14 of 38
Shareholder Returns 58 #12 of 27 100 #1 of 23
Overall 70 70
  • WDC ranked among 49 companies in Computer Hardware
  • DLB ranked among 40 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodWDCDLBSPY
1 month -22.0%+7.7% -0.8%
3 months -28.5%+23.1% +3.5%
6 months -11.1%-0.8% +7.0%
Year to date +106.7%-1.7% +12.2%
1 year +175.2%-6.3% +13.0%
3 years +1,108.9%-19.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year +129.6%-7.1% +23.1%
5 years +749.3%-28.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +53.4%-6.4% +11.0%
10 years +733.6%+26.6% +258.0%
10 years, per year +23.6%+2.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureWDCDLBSPY
Volatility, 1Y 81.2%30.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 82.1%31.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.150.54 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.16-0.21 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.5%-49.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -52.3%-8.6% -1.8%
52-week high $746.23$69.09 $779.14
52-week low $124.92$48.50 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleWDCDLB
P/E now vs peer median 13.0xmedian 36.9x 26.3xmedian 42.4x
P/S now vs peer median 9.2xmedian 1.5x 4.4xmedian 9.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.8xmedian 18.3x 15.9xmedian 32.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.1xmedian 15.4x 15.2xmedian 32.1x
P/B now vs peer median 14.3xmedian 1.1x 2.3xmedian 4.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.17median 0.97 12.63median 2.73

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsWDCDLB
Revenue $14.48B $1.35B
Gross profit $7.62B $1.19B
Operating income $5.71B $239.10M
Net income $10.02B $228.00M
Free cash flow $4.29B $392.67M
R&D $1.15B $265.94M
EPS (diluted) $26.10 $2.39
Cash & equivalents $1.31B $669.39M
Total debt $12.58B –
Shares (diluted) 384.00M 94.52M
Enterprise value $123.13B $3.35B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricWDCDLB
P/E 13.0x 26.3x
P/FCF 31.1x 15.2x
P/Operating cash flow 27.4x 13.6x
P/S 9.2x 4.4x
P/B 14.3x 2.3x
P/Tangible book 14.3x 2.7x
EV/EBITDA 21.8x 15.9x
EV/EBIT 23.3x 22.1x
EV/Revenue 9.2x 3.9x
EV/FCF 31.0x 13.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.3x 12.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.17 12.63

Growth

14 metrics
MetricWDCDLB
Revenue growth (1Y) 43.0% 0.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 57.4% 1.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 85.2% -0.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 126.7% 1.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 104.4% -15.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 85.5% -1.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 288.7% -14.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 83.2% 1.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 286.8% -12.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 75.8% 2.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 108.7% -6.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 88.3% 9.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 121.1% -10.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 66.0% 9.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricWDCDLB
Gross margin 52.6% 87.6%
EBITDA margin 42.1% 24.5%
Operating margin 39.4% 17.7%
Pretax margin 73.2% 20.4%
Net margin 69.2% 16.7%
FCF margin 29.6% 29.0%
Operating cash flow margin 33.6% 32.3%
Return on equity 110.0% 8.7%
Return on assets 71.3% 7.1%
Return on invested capital 53.8% –
Return on capital employed 57.3% 8.6%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.5x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 1.6% 9.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricWDCDLB
Debt / assets 5.5% –
Debt / equity 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.1x –
Debt / FCF 0.2x –
Liabilities / assets 34.3% 17.9%
Equity / assets 65.7% 82.1%
Interest coverage 48.8x –
Current ratio 1.4x 3.2x
Quick ratio 0.9x 3.1x
Cash ratio 0.3x 1.6x
Altman Z-score 19.75 8.51

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricWDCDLB
Dividend yield 0.2% 2.3%
Net buyback yield 2.3% 3.5%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 5.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) 2.0% 58.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) 4.6% 34.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) 151.3% 8.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 9.6%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusWDCDLB
Forward P/E 17.5xFY2027 14.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $20.34FY2027 $4.49FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +99.0%FY2027 +5.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +70.4% +4.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.30BFY2027 $1.50BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +41.7%FY2027 +11.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +36.9% -7.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersWDCDLB
Held by institutions 93.7% 65.4%
Institutions holding 1,845 389
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.3% +5.8%
Institutions buying 1,127 195
Institutions selling 596 148
Buyers to sellers 1.89 1.32

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

WDCDLB
WDC 1.00 0.00
DLB 0.00 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, WDC and DLB?

Western Digital (WDC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Western Digital (WDC) $133.31B, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) $5.95B.

Which stock is cheaper, WDC and DLB?

Western Digital (WDC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Western Digital (WDC) 13.0x, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) 26.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) is cheapest (Western Digital (WDC) 17.5x, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) 14.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Western Digital (WDC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Western Digital (WDC) +43.0%, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) +0.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Western Digital (WDC) has the highest net margin (Western Digital (WDC) 69.2%, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) 16.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Western Digital (WDC) returned the most: Western Digital (WDC) +175.2%, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) -6.3%. Over five years, Western Digital (WDC) compounded fastest (Western Digital (WDC) +53.4%/yr, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) -6.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Dolby Laboratories (DLB) has the highest dividend yield: Western Digital (WDC) 0.16%, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) 2.28%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) has been the steadiest (Western Digital (WDC) 81.2%, Dolby Laboratories (DLB) 30.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do WDC and DLB move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.00, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, WDC and DLB?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Western Digital (WDC) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.