New York, January 20, 2026, 12:49 PM EST — Regular session
- Western Digital shares jumped about 2% by midday after multiple brokerages lifted their price targets
- Rosenblatt notes a surge in hard drive prices alongside robust demand; BofA predicts results will hit the high end of guidance
- All focus is on Western Digital’s quarterly report due Jan. 29, as investors scrutinize management’s take on pricing and capacity.
Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) jumped about 2% to hit $226 by midday Tuesday, lifted by a series of Wall Street upgrades. Analysts highlighted firmer pricing and solid demand from data centers as the main reasons for raising price targets on the hard-drive manufacturer.
The gain stood out against a generally weaker backdrop, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both dropping more than 1% as investors digested fresh U.S. tariff warnings. “We think we’ll settle down and realize this is just a negotiation tool,” said Jeff Buchbinder, chief equity strategist at LPL Financial. Reuters
Investors are debating if the storage upcycle can keep going. Western Digital’s earnings report, coming next week, has become a quick gauge for hard drive prices, capacity shifts, and cloud demand.
Rosenblatt’s Kevin Cassidy raised his price target on Western Digital sharply, from $165 to $270, while keeping a Buy rating. He pointed to rising hard drive prices and solid demand, praising the company’s build-to-order approach for helping avoid inventory gluts and providing “good visibility.” Cassidy also highlighted potential upside from HAMR—heat-assisted magnetic recording—which increases drive data capacity. TipRanks
Bank of America raised its price target to $257 from $197, maintaining a Buy rating. The bank expects revenue, margins, and EPS to reach the top end of the company’s guidance.
Citi analyst Asiya Merchant bumped her 2026 price target for technology hardware to $280 from $200. She highlighted that spending by “hyperscalers” — the biggest cloud operators — “remains robust,” fueling demand across storage, power, and networking gear. TipRanks
UBS raised its price target to $230, up from $145. The bank expects the December quarter to come close to guidance, while the March quarter should slightly beat consensus. Still, it warned of limited revenue gains in the near term because of tight drive capacity. UBS also pointed out that Western Digital could present a capacity book filled through 2027.
Sandisk jumped about 7.5%, Micron inched up roughly 0.5%, and Seagate slipped close to 0.2% among storage and memory shares.
Western Digital has separated its flash memory division, connected to Sandisk, sharpening its focus mainly on hard disk drive demand.
Western Digital forecasts revenue close to $2.9 billion for the next quarter, plus or minus $100 million. Adjusted EPS is anticipated at about $1.88, with a range of 15 cents either way.
But it cuts both ways. Morgan Stanley is turning cautious on North American IT hardware, pointing to slowing demand as companies pull back spending amid rising component costs — a squeeze that could hit storage budgets if prices don’t drop.
Western Digital is set to announce earnings after the market close on Jan. 29, with a conference call scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET. Investors are focused on pricing guidance for 2026, capacity strategy, and progress on next-gen drives such as HAMR.
