New York, January 12, 2026, 19:25 EST — After-hours
- Western Digital shares jumped roughly 5.8%, bouncing back after a volatile session
- Company set to report fiscal second-quarter results Jan. 29 after market close
- Traders are focused on Tuesday’s U.S. CPI report and the kickoff of major bank earnings
Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) shares jumped 5.8% to $212.14 in after-hours trading, extending moves after the closing bell. Earlier Monday, the stock fluctuated between $193.35 and $213.40.
Timing is the late-day focus. Western Digital has turned into a momentum play in the storage sector, with its next earnings report now marked on the calendar.
This matters because the stock’s rally has drawn more quick capital into a sector known for swift shifts in pricing and customer demand. Investors are watching to find out if AI and cloud spending still drive orders—and not just generate headlines.
The broader market finished on a strong note, with the S&P 500 and Dow hitting record closes despite the Justice Department probing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. “The market is taking it in stride for now,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities. 1
Western Digital plans to report its fiscal second-quarter 2026 earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, Jan. 29, with a conference call scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET. Investors can access a live webcast through the company’s investor relations website, the firm announced. 2
On the fundamentals, the target is clear. In its latest earnings release, Western Digital projected fiscal Q2 revenue around $2.9 billion, with a $100 million margin either way, CFO Kris Sennesael stated. They also forecast non-GAAP EPS near $1.88, plus or minus $0.15. These non-GAAP numbers exclude certain items the company says obscure the core business. 3
In February 2025, Western Digital wrapped up the spin-off of its flash division, retaining the Western Digital brand for its hard-drive segment. This move shifts the company’s focus squarely onto mass-capacity storage investments from hyperscale cloud providers and enterprise clients, who dominate the data-center market. 4
Shares moved together. Seagate Technology (STX.O) jumped 5.7%, announcing it will start shipping 32-terabyte drives to channel and retail partners on Jan. 14. Melyssa Banda from Seagate said this shift “demands a new kind of data backbone: mass-capacity storage at the edge and in the data center.” 5
The downside is straightforward. A hotter-than-expected inflation figure could crush rate-cut speculation and hit high-beta tech hard. Storage demand could also take a hit if major cloud customers slow their deployments or resist price hikes.
Traders will get fresh macro data before the opening bell when the Labor Department releases December’s U.S. consumer price index at 8:30 a.m. ET Tuesday. 6
Western Digital faces a key test on Jan. 29. Investors want to see if earnings meet the company’s forecasts and whether the management maintains or eases its outlook on data-center demand.
