Filing Flows › Companies › Western Digital › Earnings quality
Western Digital earnings quality score
How much of the reported profit is backed by cash, and how many markers of managed earnings the filings show
Score33 / 100 · grade E · rank 996 of 1027
Western Digital (WDC) scores 33 of 100 for earnings quality, grade E: rank 996 of 1027 companies and 197 of 203 in technology. It loses the most points on accruals of +39.4% of assets, higher than 100% of companies (profit running ahead of cash), Beneish M-score -0.18: flagged (above −1.78), Montier C-score 4 of 6 checks failed. It earns full or near-full marks for Dechow F-score 0.97 (normal), profit about as variable as cash flow (smoothness 2.64). Revenue grew 43% in the year: fast growth raises accruals, the Beneish and Dechow scores and the C-score by construction, so a growing company scores lower than a steady one with the same accounting.
What earned and lost points
| Component | What the filings show | Points | Of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accruals | accruals of +39.4% of assets, higher than 100% of companies (profit running ahead of cash) | 0 | 20 |
| Beneish M-score | Beneish M-score -0.18: flagged (above −1.78) | 0 | 15 |
| Dechow F-score | Dechow F-score 0.97 (normal) | 15 | 15 |
| Montier C-score | Montier C-score 4 of 6 checks failed | 5 | 15 |
| Discretionary accruals | discretionary accruals of +26.8% of assets (modified Jones), larger than most | 0 | 10 |
| Piotroski F-score | Piotroski F-score 7 of 9 | 8 | 10 |
| Non-GAAP gap | adjusted earnings 100% above GAAP | 0 | 10 |
| Earnings smoothness | profit about as variable as cash flow (smoothness 2.64) | 5 | 5 |
How the score is built
Eight published measures, each scored against the whole universe or on its own scale and weighted: accruals 20, discretionary accruals 10, Beneish M 15, Dechow F 15, Montier C 15, Piotroski F 10, the non-GAAP gap 10, smoothness 5. A measure that cannot be computed (Beneish for a bank, say) drops out and the rest is rescaled, so every company is scored on what applies to it.
Every company ranked → The full quality workbench, live → Western Digital: cash flow →
Computed from the companies’ own XBRL filings (latest fiscal year) by published formulas; a statistical screen, not an audit or an accusation. A low score means the reported profit shows more of the markers of managed or low-quality earnings than its peers. Not investment advice.