April 25 (Reuters) - Western Digital ( WDC ) surpassed

expectations for quarterly revenue and profit on Thursday,

riding on a surge in demand for its data storage products from

cloud service providers.

The results are the latest sign that demand for memory chips

is improving, after earnings of larger rivals Micron Technology ( MU )

and Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) also showed a rebound

in prices of the semiconductors following a severe downturn.

"We are in the early innings of unlocking the full potential

of this company, and as industry supply and demand dynamics

continue to improve, we will remain disciplined around our

capital spending," said Western Digital ( WDC ) CEO David Goeckeler.

Goeckeler is set to lead the company's flash memory business

after its planned separation from the traditional hard-disk

drive unit, expected to complete in the second half of 2024.

Western Digital ( WDC ) said its revenue rose 23% to $3.46 billion

in the three months ended March 29, beating LSEG estimates of

$3.36 billion. Its adjusted earnings per share of 63 cents were

also higher than expectations of 21 cents.

Revenue from the cloud market grew 29% to $1.55 billion as

the company benefited from higher shipments of memory products

used in data centers as well as increased per-unit pricing.

Western Digital ( WDC ) forecast its current-quarter revenue to be

between $3.60 billion and $3.80 billion, in line with analysts'

estimate of $3.69 billion.

Shares of the company were down about 1% in extended

trading.