New York, March 3, 2026, 11:59 (EST) — Regular session
- Western Digital stock slid roughly 6%. Micron, Seagate and Sandisk were all trading lower as well.
- High-beta AI infrastructure names took a hit as oil surged and the broader market lost ground.
- A Form 144 filing showed plans for a Western Digital trust to unload 6,000 shares.
Western Digital (WDC.O) tumbled roughly 6% to $253.68 on Tuesday, deepening losses that have swept across data storage stocks as investors shied away from higher-risk tech. Micron (MU.O) shed around 6.6%. Seagate (STX.O) was down close to 4.4%, and Sandisk (SNDK.O) also slipped about 4.4%.
This shift has real implications: Western Digital’s status as a “picks-and-shovels” play on the AI boom means its shares can swing sharply when rates or energy costs jump. Once traders begin baking in persistent inflation, the higher-growth corners of tech typically feel it first.
Wall Street’s main indexes slid over 2%, hit by a spike in energy prices that reignited concerns about inflation and made traders push back their bets for the Federal Reserve’s next rate cut, according to Reuters.
Oil jumped roughly 8%, topping levels last seen in mid-2024, after the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran escalated, raising the stakes for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters said. ING analysts noted in a report that “a greater risk to the market would be Iran targeting additional energy infrastructure in the region.” Reuters
Sentiment flipped quickly. U.S. stocks found their footing on Monday after a shaky open, with buyers stepping into tech and blunting some of the war-fueled selling. “I just don’t think the average market participant is that moved by the conflict until the price of oil gets to $100 a barrel,” said Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, speaking to Reuters. Reuters
A separate Form 144 filing dated March 2 shows a proposed sale of 6,000 shares of Western Digital, naming J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as broker, the document states. Form 144 is required under Rule 144, which governs how affiliates can offload shares in the U.S.—but filing it doesn’t confirm any shares have changed hands.
The document listed earlier transactions by the Martin I Cole Revocable Trust as well, showing sales of 10,000 shares on Nov. 5 and another 6,000 on Dec. 1.
Management’s spot at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom conference on Tuesday was on investors’ minds. Western Digital announced the session would be streamed online, with a replay set to go up following the event.
Western Digital shares have been gaining, lifted by strong appetite for high-capacity hard drives and flash storage in AI servers. The company projected quarterly revenue ahead of Wall Street forecasts back in late January, citing AI-driven workloads as a key growth engine.
But it’s a two-edged sword. Elevated oil and rising bond yields, fueled by inflation worries, can drag high-momentum AI infrastructure stocks down further—no earnings miss required for the rout to sharpen.
Friday brings the next major hurdle for rates-sensitive tech, with the February U.S. Employment Situation report set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, according to the Labor Department’s schedule.
