New York, Feb 4, 2026, 17:36 EST — After-hours
- WDC dropped Wednesday following a rally over the past two days sparked by an expanded buyback and an AI-themed investor event
- The company is unveiling a quicker hard-drive roadmap aimed at hyperscale data centers to handle growing AI data demands
- Investors are focused on buyback momentum, shifts in storage hardware competition, and a volatile tech sector
Western Digital Corp shares tumbled 7.2%, closing at $269.41 in Wednesday’s after-hours session, after fluctuating between $294.48 and $254.58 during regular trading.
The decline erased some gains from the previous day, after the company boosted its stock buyback plan and doubled down on the AI data-center push.
The whipsaw is notable because Western Digital has emerged as a high-beta bet on AI infrastructure spending, with demand for memory chips in AI servers climbing amid tight supply. A global memory chip shortage has driven up prices and extended lead times. Western Digital’s shares have jumped roughly 57% this year through Tuesday, after more than tripling in 2025. 1
Western Digital announced Tuesday that its board has approved an extra $4.0 billion for share buybacks, with roughly $484 million still available from the previous authorization as of Feb. 2. CEO Irving Tan described the move as a sign of “confidence in WD’s future.” The company noted the timing will hinge on market conditions and that the program may be paused if needed. 2
A buyback, also known as a share repurchase, occurs when a company spends cash to buy back its own shares, reducing the total number of shares outstanding. Western Digital noted that these repurchases can happen either on the open market or through private deals, including via a Rule 10b5-1 plan — a predetermined trading strategy that allows purchases to proceed on a set timetable.
At its Innovation Day, the company unveiled a hard-drive roadmap targeting AI workloads and hyperscale clients—the largest cloud data-center operators. It plans to roll out 40-terabyte drives by the second half of 2026, with ambitions to reach 100-terabyte drives by 2029. Tan emphasized the effort to “reimagine the hard drive” specifically for AI demands. Western Digital is positioning itself as a key storage infrastructure partner in the emerging AI-driven data economy. 3
The trade unfolded amid a mixed bag in storage and data infrastructure names. Seagate Technology dropped 5.7%, while NetApp climbed 5.3% on the day.
Risks cut both ways. AI-related hardware stocks have surged, but the storage cycle remains sensitive to pricing shifts, supply issues, and customer spending. Execution matters too—plans for higher-capacity drives depend on new recording technologies, and any delays could squeeze margins and push back schedules.
Investors are watching to see if Western Digital follows through on its new buyback authorization with consistent repurchases, while also gauging whether customers back the company’s capacity and performance claims unveiled at Innovation Day. Sentiment remains fragile after a steep tech selloff that pulled the semiconductor index down. Traders are also focused on the delayed U.S. January jobs report, initially set for Friday, Feb. 6, as the next key indicator for rates and risk appetite. “The stock market is having a really hard knowing where to price the stocks,” said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital. 4
