New York, February 6, 2026, 12:20 PM EST — Regular session
- Western Digital shares jump roughly 6% by midday, recovering losses from Thursday
- Storage stocks rise alongside Wall Street’s rebound
- Traders weigh a fresh CEO share-sale filing alongside an expanded buyback plan
Western Digital shares jumped roughly 6% on Friday, climbing to about $276.60 midday after closing at $260.19 the previous session. The stock moved between $258.18 and $278.59 during trading.
The rise mirrored a wider surge in risk assets, as storage stocks held steady. Seagate Technology rose nearly 4.5%, and NetApp was up about 2.5%. The Dow also advanced, gaining roughly 1.5% in morning session trading. 1
Western Digital has been volatile this week, with investors quick to offload shares at any sign of slowing momentum after a strong rally. On Thursday, the stock dropped 3.42% to $260.19, trailing Seagate’s gains and hovering roughly 12% below its 52-week peak of $296.50, according to MarketWatch data. 2
Some of the selling pressure stems from headline risk tied to insider trading disclosures. A Form 4 filing revealed that Chief Executive Irving Tan offloaded 20,000 shares on Feb. 2 across multiple trades. The filing noted these sales occurred under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, which allows for pre-set trading conditions. 3
Investors have also turned to capital returns as a safety net. On Tuesday, Western Digital announced its board approved an extra $4 billion for share buybacks, meaning the company will repurchase its own stock on the open market. “The expanded $4.0 billion buyback authorization demonstrates our confidence in WD’s future,” Tan said in a statement. 4
The buyback announcement came as the company linked demand to AI-driven infrastructure investments. A global memory chip shortage has squeezed supply and pushed prices higher, Reuters noted earlier this week. Western Digital highlighted sales of hard drives and flash storage for AI servers as a major growth factor in its forecast. 5
Western Digital took advantage of a recent investor event to reveal its roadmap for higher-capacity drives, hinting at much larger hard drives coming later this decade, according to Tom’s Hardware. 6
Friday’s bounce left the stock far from its highs. Traders say the next move hinges on buybacks appearing swiftly in the tape and if sector strength lasts into next week.
Buybacks might slow down or even halt, while headlines about insider sales—despite being pre-planned—can rattle momentum investors. On top of that, any weakness in data-center spending could put pressure on the crowded “AI infrastructure” trade that’s been driving storage stock gains.
Investors are focused on the upcoming company update covering demand and margins, with earnings due April 29, per Public Investing’s calendar. 7
