WDC - Western Digital soars as activist Elliott calls for separation of flash business (update)

Updated 11:35am: Updates shares, adds Western Digital response. Western Digital jumped 15% after activist Elliott Management disclosed a $1 billion, or 6% stake, and called for the company to separate its hard disk drives and NAND flash memory businesses. By separating the businesses, Elliott believes Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) could reach $100+ by the end of 2023, representing 100% upside, according to a statement. In addition to its investment in WDC, Elliott is also offering $1 billion of incremental equity capital into the flash business at an enterprise value of $17 to $20 billion to be used for a spin-off or as equity financing in a sale or merger. "By any objective measure, Western Digital has underperformed—operationally, financially and strategically—as a direct result of the challenges of operating two vastly different businesses as part of the same company," Elliott's Jesse Cohn and Jason Genrich wrote in a letter to WDC's board. "This underperformance

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Western Digital soars as activist Elliott calls for separation of flash business (update)