New York, January 8, 2026, 11:31 EST — Regular session
- Western Digital stock fell about 9%, extending a pullback after a CES-linked surge earlier this week
- Storage and memory peers Seagate, Sandisk and Micron also slid, pointing to sector-wide profit-taking
- Focus turns to Friday’s U.S. payrolls report and the company’s next quarterly update
Western Digital Corp (WDC) shares fell about 9% on Thursday, extending a sharp pullback in storage names after this week’s CES-driven jump. The stock was down 8.6% at $182.63 after opening above $200.
The swing matters because Western Digital, a maker of hard-disk drives — spinning disks used for bulk data storage — has become a quick way for traders to express views on the AI data-center buildout. After two sessions of big moves, some investors are starting to ask how much of the storage boom is already in the price.
Shares surged 17% on Tuesday after Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, pointed to a new layer of storage technology and said the market was undersupplied. “We’re going to have a very strong earnings season for Big Tech,” said Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital, as investors braced for more capital spending by large cloud firms. SanDisk jumped more than 27% and Seagate and Micron also hit records in the same move. 1
That enthusiasm cooled fast. Western Digital dropped almost 9% on Wednesday as memory and storage stocks gave back part of their steep gains. 2
On Thursday, Seagate fell 8.2%, while spin-off Sandisk slid about 11% and Micron was down nearly 5%.
The broader tape didn’t help: the Nasdaq was off about 0.6% in early trade as heavyweight tech names sagged. “A softening in the job picture” has left the market alert ahead of Friday’s U.S. payrolls report, CFRA chief investment strategist Sam Stovall said. 3
Western Digital’s next test is its own results, due in the coming weeks. Analysts expect adjusted earnings per share — profit per share excluding certain items — of about $1.80 for the fiscal second quarter, and $7.13 for fiscal 2026, according to Barchart. 4
In its last report, the San Jose, California-based company posted fiscal first-quarter revenue of $2.82 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $1.78. Chief Executive Irving Tan cited a “strong demand environment driven by growth of data storage in the cloud” and the company forecast second-quarter revenue of about $2.9 billion, plus or minus $100 million, with non-GAAP EPS of $1.88, CFO Kris Sennesael said. Western Digital completed the separation of its flash business into Sandisk in February 2025. 5
Still, the story can flip again. If cloud customers slow orders, or if storage prices soften as new supply comes on, the stocks that just ran on AI optimism can drop hard.
Investors will watch Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report for December and any follow-through from CES headlines. Nasdaq’s earnings calendar lists an estimated report date of Feb. 4 for Western Digital. 6
