Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) ended a volatile Wednesday session sharply lower, then ticked higher in after-hours trading—setting up an eventful backdrop heading into Thursday’s opening bell. Here’s what happened after the close on December 17, 2025, what the latest analyst notes are signaling, and the specific catalysts investors are watching before U.S. markets open on December 18, 2025.
Western Digital stock price after the bell: the numbers that matter
Western Digital shares fell 4.76% in regular trading on Wednesday, closing at $166.26. [1]
After the close, WDC stock rebounded in extended trading, rising to about $169.97 (up roughly 2.23% after hours as of 6:51 p.m. ET). [2]
A quick snapshot of Wednesday’s session:
- Regular close: $166.26 (–4.76%) [3]
- After-hours: ~$169.97 (+2.23%) [4]
- Intraday range: roughly $165.47 to $181.30
- 52-week high context: WDC is ~11.9% below its $188.77 52-week high set on Dec. 11, 2025 [5]
Why WDC dropped Wednesday even as the long-term story stays hot
Wednesday’s selloff wasn’t isolated to Western Digital. Markets broadly slipped, with the S&P 500 down 1.16% and the Nasdaq Composite down about 1.8%, a risk-off tone that hit many tech and AI-linked names. [6]
WDC underperformed some storage peers on the day—Seagate (STX) also fell, but not as much, while NetApp (NTAP) dropped less. [7]
That matters because Western Digital has become a high-sensitivity “AI infrastructure” proxy in 2025: investors have been pricing it less like a slow-and-steady hardware name and more like a cyclical beneficiary of AI data center buildouts. When sentiment toward AI spending or tech momentum wobbles, WDC can swing hard.
The big fundamental tailwind: AI data centers are pulling storage demand forward
Even with Wednesday’s dip, the bull case being repeated across today’s analyst and market commentary is consistent: AI is driving a step-change in data creation and retention, and high-capacity HDDs remain one of the most cost-effective ways to store massive datasets at scale.
A Zacks analysis published Wednesday emphasized that hyperscale and cloud customers need “massive, cost-efficient storage,” and framed Western Digital’s high-capacity drives as direct beneficiaries of AI-driven data center demand—while also pointing to multi-year visibility and a technology roadmap (including HAMR) as key pillars of the longer cycle. [8]
Separately, Western Digital’s corporate transformation is still central to the narrative: the company completed the separation of its Flash business in early 2025, leaving Western Digital as a more HDD-focused company. [9]
Today’s most important analyst updates and forecasts for WDC stock
Several analyst notes and rating items circulating today (Dec. 17) are shaping the “what next” conversation—especially because WDC is trading near levels where price targets and valuation debate become more intense.
Morgan Stanley: price target raised to $228, “Overweight” reiterated
GuruFocus reported that Morgan Stanley raised its WDC price target to $228 from $188 and reiterated an Overweight rating in a note dated Dec. 17, 2025, citing analyst Erik Woodring. [10]
Mizuho: Outperform maintained, $180 target, strong demand visibility
In a Dec. 17 Investing.com report, Mizuho maintained an Outperform rating and a $180 price target after an investor call featuring Western Digital CFO Kris Sennesael and IR VP Ambrish Srivastava. [11]
Key takeaways from that call (and why they matter before Thursday’s open):
- Purchase orders extend through end of calendar 2026, and one customer’s orders extend into 2027; discussions are underway for 2027–2029 long-term engagements. [12]
- Pricing outlook for 2026: expected to be flat to up low-single-digit % year over year, with visibility tied to long-term agreements. [13]
- High-capacity shipment ramp: about 2.2M units of 26TB CMR / 32TB UltraSMR drives shipped in the September quarter; expected to rise to 3.0–3.5M in the December quarter. [14]
- Balance sheet: net debt/EBITDA noted around 0.9x, with intent to sell the remaining SanDisk stake to reduce debt. [15]
- HAMR roadmap detail: plan to move HAMR to glass substrate with internal sourcing and partner Hoya, with production ramps expected in H1 2027. [16]
Benchmark: target lifted to $200 from $163 (Buy), with bullish cycle assumptions
Another Investing.com report highlighted Benchmark raising its price target to $200 from $163 while maintaining a Buy rating, pointing to higher FY2026–FY2027 estimates. [17]
Benchmark’s note also echoed a theme that has been powering the HDD trade: tight supply + strong demand can support unusually high margins in the cycle. The report referenced commentary attributed to Seagate management about the potential for gross margins above 50% in HDD sales over the next year, given the strength of the cycle. [18]
Cantor Fitzgerald: target raised to $250, Overweight
A TipRanks item (sourced from TheFly) said Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target to $250 from $200 and kept an Overweight rating, leaning into the idea that AI-era infrastructure spending supports the broader semiconductor and AI hardware complex into 2026. [19]
Where “consensus” sits right now
MarketBeat’s compilation (as shown in its Nasdaq-100 inclusion coverage) listed a 12‑month average forecast around $173.65, with a high forecast of $250 and a low forecast of $53, characterizing the overall analyst stance as a Moderate Buy. [20]
The takeaway: analysts are broadly constructive, but there’s a wide dispersion—usually a sign that (1) the cycle is strong, but (2) investors are debating how long it lasts and how much is already priced into WDC’s run.
The Nasdaq-100 catalyst is close—and it matters for flows
Western Digital’s inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 is one of the most discussed near-term technical catalysts.
A MarketBeat contributor article hosted on Nasdaq.com noted that Western Digital is set to join the Nasdaq‑100 prior to the market open on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, and explained the typical “index effect”—passive vehicles tracking the benchmark may need to buy shares to match the index. [21]
Even if you don’t trade index events, this is relevant because it can amplify volume and volatility around the effective date—especially for a stock that has already been moving fast.
What to know before the market opens Thursday, Dec. 18
Wednesday’s after-hours bounce does not guarantee a green open. The most important drivers into Thursday morning are macro first, then WDC-specific positioning.
1) CPI and jobless claims hit at 8:30 a.m. ET
The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) release for November 2025 is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. ET, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics schedule. [22]
MarketWatch’s economic calendar also flags Initial Jobless Claims at the same time, alongside CPI details. [23]
Why this matters for WDC: storage hardware names that have rerated with the AI cycle tend to trade like higher-beta tech—meaning inflation and rates expectations can quickly change risk appetite and valuations into the open.
2) Watch whether the after-hours rebound holds into premarket liquidity
After-hours trading can be thin, and price can “snap back” at the open when institutional liquidity returns. Still, a move from ~$166 to ~$170 after hours suggests buyers stepped in quickly following the late-day selloff. [24]
If you’re tracking sentiment into the open, watch:
- whether WDC stays bid above ~$170 premarket, or
- whether it drifts back toward the $166 close as macro headlines dominate.
3) Technical levels traders are watching
From a widely followed technical perspective, Barchart’s pivot-style levels flagged the following reference points:
- Resistance: ~$176.80, then ~$182.21, then ~$188.41
- Support: ~$160.60, then ~$154.70, then ~$148.51 [25]
Barchart also showed WDC’s moving averages (approximate):
- 5‑day: ~$175
- 20‑day: ~$163
- 50‑day: ~$140
- 200‑day: ~$74 [26]
In plain English: Wednesday’s drop pushed the stock well below very short-term trend, but it’s still above intermediate-term averages—often a setup where traders look for either a quick mean reversion bounce or a deeper reset.
4) Upcoming earnings timing is still somewhat unclear—plan for a late-January/early-February window
One practical point for anyone holding overnight: different market calendars list different dates, and some explicitly state the company has not confirmed.
- TipRanks lists Jan. 22, 2026 (after close) as “confirmed.” [27]
- Nasdaq’s earnings page shows Feb. 4, 2026 as an estimate derived from an algorithm. [28]
- MarketBeat says Western Digital has not confirmed its next earnings date and shows Feb. 4, 2026 as an estimate based on historical reporting patterns. [29]
If you’re positioning ahead of earnings season, the safest framing for now is: expect the next report in the late-January to early-February window unless Western Digital announces otherwise.
The longer-term setup investors keep coming back to
Even as the stock whipsaws, two longer-cycle points keep showing up across today’s reporting:
Multi-year demand visibility is improving
Mizuho’s write-up highlighted purchase orders running through calendar 2026 and into 2027, plus active work on multi-year engagement structures beyond that. [30]
Shareholder returns are increasing alongside the cycle
A Zacks article published on Nasdaq.com emphasized Western Digital’s capital returns—reporting $553M in buybacks (6.4M shares) and $39M in dividends in the fiscal first quarter, and noting a dividend increase announced earlier. [31]
Western Digital’s own Q1 FY26 results release also described a 25% quarterly dividend increase to $0.125 per share and provided Q2 FY26 outlook ranges. [32]
Bottom line for Thursday’s open
Western Digital stock goes into the Dec. 18 session with three forces colliding:
- Macro risk (CPI + jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET) that can swing high-beta tech,
- A still-bullish analyst drumbeat (new and reiterated targets ranging from ~$180 to ~$250 today), and
- A near-term technical reset after Wednesday’s sharp selloff—partly reversed after hours.
WDC has been one of 2025’s biggest “AI infrastructure” beneficiaries, but Wednesday was a reminder that even strong-cycle winners can drop quickly when sentiment shifts. Heading into Thursday morning, the first question isn’t just “what did WDC do after hours?”—it’s whether the market’s macro read allows risk appetite to return at the open.
References
1. www.marketwatch.com, 2. www.google.com, 3. www.marketwatch.com, 4. www.google.com, 5. www.marketwatch.com, 6. www.marketwatch.com, 7. www.marketwatch.com, 8. www.nasdaq.com, 9. www.westerndigital.com, 10. www.gurufocus.com, 11. www.investing.com, 12. www.investing.com, 13. www.investing.com, 14. www.investing.com, 15. www.investing.com, 16. www.investing.com, 17. www.investing.com, 18. www.investing.com, 19. www.tipranks.com, 20. www.marketbeat.com, 21. www.nasdaq.com, 22. www.bls.gov, 23. www.marketwatch.com, 24. www.google.com, 25. www.barchart.com, 26. www.barchart.com, 27. www.tipranks.com, 28. www.nasdaq.com, 29. www.marketbeat.com, 30. www.investing.com, 31. www.nasdaq.com, 32. www.westerndigital.com
