NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 23:13 ET — Market closed
- Western Digital shares last closed up 1.1% on Friday, outpacing a flat U.S. market. [1]
- Investors head into the final trading days of 2025 watching U.S. data and Fed minutes, with AI-linked hardware still a crowded theme. [2]
- The stock is within striking distance of its recent 52-week high, a level traders are tracking into Monday’s open. [3]
Western Digital shares ended the last U.S. session higher, closing up 1.1% at $181.54 on Friday. [4]
The move matters into the final stretch of the year because investors have leaned into “picks-and-shovels” hardware tied to artificial intelligence, where storage demand rises as data-center capacity expands. [5]
Markets also face a year-end run of U.S. economic releases and Federal Reserve minutes that can swing interest-rate expectations, a key input for tech-heavy trades. [6]
Western Digital outperformed a mostly flat tape on Friday, when the S&P 500 slipped 0.03% and the Dow fell 0.04%, MarketWatch data showed. [7]
Peers also firmed, with Seagate Technology up 0.33% and NetApp up 0.41% on the day, the report showed. [8]
Trading was light, with about 3.1 million shares changing hands, well below the stock’s 50-day average volume of 9.1 million, according to MarketWatch. [9]
Western Digital finished about 3.8% below its 52-week high of $188.77, a reference point for traders looking at whether the stock can retest recent peaks. [10]
The bigger backdrop has been a sharp rally in storage names as companies race to build out AI infrastructure, which needs both chips and high-capacity drives to store and move data. [11]
“The fact that WDC has secured purchase orders extending through CY26 with five of its largest customers is a clear indication” that buyers do not want to fall short on capacity, J.P. Morgan analysts wrote in an Oct. 31 note. [12]
“If you went back twelve months … they wouldn’t have talked about hard disks,” said Martin Frandsen, a portfolio manager at Principal Asset Management, in comments reported by Reuters. [13]
Before Monday’s open, U.S. stock futures were little changed late Sunday as investors looked to finish 2025 on a strong footing, MarketWatch reported. [14]
On Monday, investors will parse the pending home sales index for November at 10:00 a.m. ET, along with other data including advance trade figures and the Dallas Fed manufacturing survey, according to the New York Fed’s calendar. [15]
Attention then shifts to Tuesday’s release of minutes from the Fed’s December meeting — a detailed record of policymakers’ debate — along with housing and regional activity gauges, Barron’s said. [16]
For Western Digital, the next major company catalyst is its next quarterly update, with Wall Street calendars pointing to early February; Zacks lists Feb. 4 as the expected date. [17]
With markets heading into holiday-thinned sessions and a New Year’s Day closure, investors will also watch whether lighter liquidity amplifies swings in high-momentum hardware names. [18]
References
1. www.marketwatch.com, 2. www.barrons.com, 3. www.marketwatch.com, 4. www.marketwatch.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.barrons.com, 7. www.marketwatch.com, 8. www.marketwatch.com, 9. www.marketwatch.com, 10. www.marketwatch.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. www.reuters.com, 14. www.marketwatch.com, 15. www.newyorkfed.org, 16. www.barrons.com, 17. www.zacks.com, 18. www.barrons.com
