Western Digital stock jumps 9% to start 2026 as AI data-storage trade stays in focus
NEW YORK, January 3, 2026, 14:25 ET — Market closed Western Digital (WDC.O) shares closed up 9% at $187.70 on Friday, outperforming the broader market on the first trading day of 2026. Barron’s The move mattered because investors have treated data storage as a key “picks-and-shovels” beneficiary of artificial intelligence, alongside semiconductors and servers. That theme helped power big gains across storage and memory names in 2025 and is carrying into the new year. Barron’s Western Digital sells hard-disk drives, or HDDs — spinning-disk storage used for bulk, low-cost capacity in cloud data centers. Investors have been buying the group