Western Digital (WDC) Stock on December 8, 2025: AI Storage Rocket With 260%+ Gains, Fresh Buy Ratings and Rising Risks

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) has quietly turned into one of 2025’s loudest AI infrastructure winners. As of December 8, 2025, the Western Digital stock price is trading around $169 per share, near record highs, giving the company a market cap of roughly $58 billion and marking a market‑cap increase of more than 150% over the last 12 months. ^[1]

Depending on the source, WDC is up roughly 260–275% year‑to‑date in 2025, making it one of the top‑performing stocks in the entire S&P 500. TechStock²+224/7 Wall St.+2 That kind of move is now drawing a wave of fresh research, options activity, and institutional money — as well as the first serious “is this now priced for perfection?” debates.

This article pulls together all the key Western Digital stock news, forecasts, and analyses dated December 8, 2025, and sets them in context so you can see what the market is really saying about WDC today.

1. Western Digital stock today (8 December 2025)

Last price (intraday, Dec 8, 2025): around $169
Day’s range (so far): roughly $166.75 – $173.00 ^[2]
Market cap: about $57–58 billion, up over 150% year‑on‑year. ^[3]
52‑week trading range: around $28.83 – $178.45, highlighting how violent the re‑rating has been in 2025. ^[4]

A Reuters piece from late October noted that Western Digital and Seagate are among the top three gainers in the S&P 500 this year, with both stocks more than tripling as AI‑driven demand for high‑capacity hard drives exploded. ^[5]

A feature on 24/7 Wall St published December 8 goes even further: it pegs Western Digital’s 2025 gain at 275%, calling it the second‑best performer in the S&P 500 this year, behind only Robinhood. The article credits the rally to Western Digital’s decision to double down on high‑capacity HDDs for AI data centers after spinning off its flash business into the newly re‑listed SanDisk (SNDK). ^[6]

2. Key Western Digital stock news on December 8, 2025

2.1 Zacks: Western Digital and SanDisk “dominate AI‑driven storage gains”

A Zacks Investment Ideas note released December 8 highlights Western Digital (WDC) and its spun‑off flash sibling SanDisk (SNDK) as two of the standout winners in AI‑driven storage.

The piece emphasises that despite a choppy macro backdrop, AI infrastructure and data storage have been one of 2025’s strongest themes, with both WDC and SNDK benefiting from the explosion in data retention and training workloads. ^[7]

Zacks keeps Western Digital in its top recommendation bucket (Rank #1 / Strong Buy) in part because:

Earnings estimates have been revised up repeatedly following the company’s fiscal Q1 FY26 beat. ^[8]
AI and cloud workloads are driving double‑digit revenue and EPS growth.
The stock’s run‑up has so far been supported by fundamentals, not just story‑telling.

2.2 TS2.Tech: “AI storage champion or late‑stage risk?”

TechStock² (TS2.Tech) published a long‑form Western Digital analysis on December 8 titled “Western Digital (WDC) Stock Soars 260% in 2025: AI Storage Champion or Late‑Stage Risk?” TechStock²+1

Key takeaways from that piece:

Performance: As of December 8, WDC is trading around $168.89, up roughly 260% year‑to‑date and sitting just below an all‑time high near $178. TechStock²+1
Narrative shift: Western Digital has transformed from a “tired PC‑drive vendor” into a pure‑play AI storage infrastructure stock, focused on high‑capacity HDD systems for cloud and AI data lakes, while SanDisk handles flash/NAND. ^[9]
Dividend and buybacks:
- The board restarted and raised the dividend to $0.125 per share quarterly (up 25% from $0.10).
- The ex‑dividend date was December 4, 2025, with payment scheduled for December 18, 2025.
- At current prices, that’s about a 0.3% yield, but TS2 notes that total shareholder yield is higher once buybacks are included, pointing to share repurchases of roughly 9.2 million shares for about $700M in 2025. TechStock²+2MarketBeat+2

Crucially, TS2.Tech frames Western Digital as:

Bull case: A leveraged way to play long‑term AI infrastructure spending, with real earnings growth, multi‑year HDD purchase orders from hyperscalers and Street price targets clustering between $180 and $250. TechStock²+2StockAnalysis+2
Bear case: A highly cyclical, hyperscaler‑dependent stock after a 3x run, with valuation (price‑to‑sales and P/E) now well above its historical averages and insider selling picking up. TechStock²+1

2.3 24/7 Wall St: WDC is one of two chip names leading the S&P 500 boom

In “The 2 Chip Stocks Leading the S&P 500’s Boom in 2025 Are Not Who You Think”, 24/7 Wall St names SanDisk and Western Digital as the two unlikely chip‑related leaders of the index. ^[10]

For Western Digital, the article highlights:

~275% gain in 2025, putting WDC in the No. 2 spot among S&P 500 performers.
Strategic focus on high‑capacity nearline HDDs for AI and cloud storage, where HDDs still beat flash on cost per terabyte for massive data sets.
Revenue growth of around 30% in fiscal Q4 driven by AI‑related demand. ^[11]

This piece amplifies the theme that AI infrastructure winners are not just GPUs, but also old‑school hardware makers that can ship exabytes of cheap, reliable storage.

2.4 MarketBeat: Winton and First Trust ramp up their WDC stakes

Two separate MarketBeat notes dated December 8 detail big institutional moves into Western Digital: ^[12]

WINTON GROUP Ltd
- Initiated a new WDC position of 148,938 shares, valued around $9.53 million, making Western Digital roughly 0.5% of its portfolio and its 23rd‑largest holding.
- The article also notes Western Digital’s debt‑to‑equity ratio of ~0.42, a current ratio of 1.21, and a one‑year share price range of $28.83–$178.45, with a recent price around $168.89.
First Trust Advisors LP
- Increased its WDC stake by 338.3% in Q2, buying an additional 722,702 shares to own 936,313 shares worth about $59.9 million, equating to roughly 0.27% of the company.

Both articles reiterate that Western Digital:

Has restarted and raised its dividend to $0.125 per quarter (annualised $0.50, ~0.3% yield at current prices).
Trades at a forward P/E in the mid‑20s with a market cap in the high‑$50B range. ^[13]

Separately, Quiver Quant notes that:

554 institutional investors have added WDC, while 304 have reduced positions in their most recent filings.
Institutional ownership now stands around 92.5% of the float.
Insiders have made 29 open‑market sales and zero purchases in the last six months; CEO Irving Tan and other senior executives have sold stock following the rally. ^[14]

2.5 Benzinga: “Whale” options traders target $125–$250 strike range

Benzinga’s December 8 article “Unpacking the Latest Options Trading Trends in Western Digital” highlights a burst of unusual options activity in WDC: ^[15]

The firm’s scanner spotted 23 large, uncommon options trades in Western Digital in recent sessions.
Of these, 18 were calls and 5 puts, with about 56% of the notional flow bullish, 34% bearish.
Total call premium tracked was about $1.7 million, versus roughly $173k in puts.
The main strike zone for recent big trades sits between $125 and $250, including large call positions around $170 expiring in early 2026.

Benzinga also notes that:

Western Digital’s RSI is approaching overbought territory, and
The next earnings report is expected in roughly 7 weeks, putting a fundamental catalyst behind this options positioning. ^[16]

2.6 Broader AI‑storage and supply‑demand backdrop

A number of macro analyses published on December 7–8 give additional colour:

IndexBox flags AI‑infrastructure stocks such as Western Digital and Seagate as central to the 2025 “AI stock rally”, and warns that concentrated gains in AI‑linked names are sparking bubble comparisons. ^[17]
A Computing article on “the memory crunch” notes that surging AI‑driven demand for storage has strained supply chains for components like platters and heads, limiting HDD production growth at producers including Seagate, Western Digital and Toshiba. That supply tightness helps explain strong pricing and margins. ^[18]

3. Fundamentals: earnings, AI demand and product roadmap

3.1 Q1 FY26: AI and cloud workloads drive a major beat

Western Digital’s fiscal first quarter 2026 (reported October 30, 2025) set the fundamental tone for this rally: ^[19]

Revenue: $2.82 billion, up 27% year‑over‑year, above guidance.
GAAP diluted EPS:$3.07.
Non‑GAAP EPS:$1.78, beating consensus by more than 10%.
Free cash flow: about $599 million for the quarter.
Guidance: management guided Q2 FY26 revenue to be up around 20% year‑over‑year at the midpoint, indicating that the AI storage boom isn’t a one‑quarter spike.

A detailed Zacks note on November 5 breaks down the drivers: ^[20]

Cloud end‑market revenue contributed about 89% of total revenue and grew 31% year‑over‑year, led by demand for high‑capacity nearline HDDs.
Western Digital shipped 204 exabytes of storage in the quarter, up 23% vs. last year.
Its latest ePMR and UltraSMR HDDs (up to 26TB CMR and 32TB UltraSMR) saw shipments surpass 2.2 million units in the September quarter.
All top seven hyperscale customers have purchase orders that run through H1 2026, with five extending through year‑end and one major hyperscaler securing supply through 2027, giving unusually strong visibility.

3.2 AI Data Cycle framework and SC25 product push

Western Digital has spent the past 18 months repositioning itself as a “trusted AI storage leader”:

In June 2024, the company introduced an “AI Data Cycle” storage framework to help customers manage data from initial ingestion through AI training, inference and long‑term retention. ^[21]
A November 13, 2025 press release ahead of Supercomputing 2025 (SC25) showcased: ^[22]
- Next‑gen Ultrastar platforms for AI and HPC clusters.
- Expanded availability of high‑capacity UltraSMR HDDs and PCIe Gen5 SSDs for AI workloads.
- An expanded System Integration and Test Lab and an Open Compatibility Lab designed to make it easier for customers to certify high‑capacity drives across thousands of systems.

An AI‑generated but human‑edited AInvest article on December 2 describes Western Digital as “leading the AI storage revolution”, citing the AI Data Cycle framework, EPMR/HAMR roadmaps, and partnerships (like PEAK:AIO) aimed at eliminating data‑path bottlenecks in AI workflows. ^[23]

4. Corporate structure and Kioxia deal talk

4.1 Sandisk spin‑off: WDC becomes a pure‑play HDD and systems business

On February 24, 2025, Western Digital completed its long‑planned split into two public companies: ^[24]

Western Digital (WDC) now houses the hard‑disk‑drive and systems business, and kept the NASDAQ:WDC ticker.
SanDisk (SNDK) became a separate, publicly‑listed flash and SSD company, reviving the brand Western Digital acquired in 2016.

Key structural details from CRN’s coverage:

Western Digital retains a stake in SanDisk and continues to collaborate via a flash joint venture with Japan’s Kioxia.
Irving Tan became CEO of Western Digital; former WDC CEO David Goeckeler now leads SanDisk.
Tan’s blog post highlights the view that AI’s accelerating data growth will drive higher HDD exabyte shipments, with Western Digital investing in ePMR, UltraSMR and future HAMR technology to keep pushing capacity and lower cost per terabyte.

This split is a big reason analysts now describe Western Digital as a “pure play on AI‑era storage”, with cleaner exposure to data‑center HDDs and systems rather than the more volatile NAND cycle. ^[25]

4.2 Kioxia–Western Digital merger talks: progress, but still not done

Kioxia and Western Digital have a long‑running flash memory joint venture, and their on‑again, off‑again merger talks have been tracked for years. ^[26]

A December 9 (Japan time) iMedia article summarizing Reuters reporting says the two sides have “made significant progress” in renewed merger talks: ^[27]

Discussions are reportedly focused on deal structure, with one proposal giving the combined entity 43% ownership to Kioxia shareholders, 37% to Western Digital, and 20% to existing outside investors, including Toshiba (which still owns about 40.6% of Kioxia).
The combination would create the world’s largest NAND flash supplier, leapfrogging Samsung in market share.

Regulatory hurdles, SK Hynix’s opposition and geopolitical sensitivities mean a deal is still uncertain. But the optional upside from a Kioxia tie‑up is frequently mentioned in bullish Western Digital research as a potential longer‑term catalyst. ^[28]

5. Analyst ratings and Western Digital stock forecasts

Analyst and model‑driven forecasts for WDC as of early December 2025 share one common theme: the Street is broadly bullish, but valuations are no longer cheap.

5.1 Consensus ratings: solid “Buy”

Across major aggregators, Western Digital carries a consensus Buy / Moderate Buy rating:

StockAnalysis.com shows an average rating of “Buy” from 24 analysts, with no Sells and 5 Holds. ^[29]
Quiver Quant’s tally shows 14 Buy/Overweight‑style ratings and zero Sells in recent months. ^[30]
Investing.com’s consensus also classifies WDC as a Buy, with the majority of 23 tracked analysts recommending purchase rather than hold. ^[31]

5.2 Price targets: old averages vs fresh upgrades

Target price snapshots differ depending on how much stale data each site includes:

MarketBeat:
- Average 12‑month price target of about $164.70 across 25 analysts, implying a couple of percent downside from the current price.
- Targets range from $53 on the low end to $250 on the high end. ^[32]
Zacks (via Nasdaq/StockInvest summaries):
- Short‑term price target average around $177–178, with a range that starts in the mid‑$90s. ^[33]
Investing.com:
- Average one‑year price target of roughly $181.4, with a range of $135–$250, and a formal consensus of “Buy” (21 Buy, 5 Hold, 0 Sell). ^[34]
StockAnalysis.com (forecast tab):
- Average target around $149.17, which looks bearish (-11% vs. current price), but again includes older, pre‑rally targets that haven’t been updated. ^[35]

More interesting are the freshest calls, which skew more bullish and are widely discussed in today’s commentary:

China Renaissance (Dec 5, 2025): Initiated coverage with Strong Buy and a $193 price target. ^[36]
Citigroup (Dec 2, 2025): Raised target from $180 to $200, re‑iterating a Buy rating and calling hard‑drive makers “the real AI winners.” ^[37]
Bank of America (Nov 20, 2025): Boosted its target from $170 to $197, rating WDC a Buy. ^[38]
Loop Capital (Nov 10, 2025): Took one of the most aggressive views, lifting its target to $250 while maintaining a Buy rating. ^[39]

Benzinga’s December 8 options article notes that the average of four recent analyst targets it tracks is about $210 (Citi $200, BofA $197, Loop $250, China Renaissance $193). ^[40]

TS2.Tech and Simply Wall St both point out that if you weight only the freshest targets, most cluster in the $180–$200+ range, and some DCF‑style fair value models land around $181–182 per share — roughly 5–8% above current trading levels. TechStock²+1

5.3 Revenue and EPS forecasts

StockAnalysis aggregates Street forecasts that show a healthy multi‑year growth runway: ^[41]

Revenue 2025 (current fiscal year): about $9.5B.
Revenue 2026: expected to climb to $11.8B (+24% YoY).
Revenue 2027: forecast around $13.3B (+13% YoY).
EPS this year: ~$5.14, rising to $7.66 next year and $9.48 the year after if Street models prove accurate.

The upward revisions in these numbers after the Q1 FY26 beat are a big reason Zacks and others keep Western Digital in top rating tiers. ^[42]

6. Technical picture and trading sentiment

6.1 Momentum and RSI

Investing.com’s technical dashboard for WDC, refreshed on December 8, flags Western Digital as a “Strong Buy” on technicals: ^[43]

RSI (14): around 64–66, which is elevated but not yet in classic >70 “overbought” territory.
MACD, ADX, CCI and several other indicators flash Buy, while a couple of oscillators (like Stochastics and the Ultimate Oscillator) show short‑term “Sell” or “Neutral” signals, consistent with a strong but potentially extended uptrend.

This aligns with Benzinga’s observation that WDC is “approaching overbought” even as large options traders keep leaning bullish.

6.2 Options flows and positioning

From the December 8 Benzinga breakdown: ^[44]

Options “whales” have placed high‑conviction call bets out to 2026, with concentration in $167.50–$230 strikes.
The call‑to‑put premium ratio is roughly 10:1, showing traders are skewed bullish even after the run.
Price action around $170 is now a focal point for those contracts, effectively making that level an important sentiment line.

6.3 Institutional vs insider signals

As noted above, institutional flows are strongly positive — hundreds of funds have added WDC, with large stakes from First Trust Advisors, Bank of America, BlackRock, FMR and others. ^[45]

But Quiver Quant and MarketBeat both highlight that insiders have only been selling over the past six months: ^[46]

CEO Irving Tan and several senior executives have sold tens of thousands of shares since Q3.
Total insider sales in the last 90 days are around 26,000–40,000 shares, worth about $4 million, leaving insiders with only a tiny direct ownership stake (~0.18%).

After a 3x move, some insider profit‑taking is completely normal — but it does slightly undercut the idea that everyone inside the company thinks the stock remains deeply undervalued.

7. Key risks raised in today’s analyses

Across December 8 coverage and recent research, several consistent risk themes show up: AInvest+4TechStock²+4IndexBox+4

Classic storage cyclicality
- HDDs and NAND have always been cyclical, with brutal down‑cycles when capacity overshoots demand.
- If hyperscalers slow capex or pivot architectures, pricing power can evaporate quickly.
Hyperscaler concentration risk
- Western Digital’s multi‑year purchase orders with top cloud providers are a blessing when AI spending is booming — but they also mean a handful of customers drive most of the business.
- Any pause or renegotiation could hit revenues hard.
Valuation creep after a 260–275% run
- Price‑to‑sales and P/E multiples are now well above Western Digital’s historical averages.
- Several commentators warn that the margin for error is shrinking; even small disappointments could produce a sharp pullback.
Crowded positioning
- Very high institutional ownership and heavy options speculation mean Western Digital is increasingly a crowded trade.
- TS2.Tech notes that a 15–25% correction would be “entirely normal” in a leader like this, even without any fundamental blow‑up, simply from profit‑taking and de‑risking. TechStock²+2Quiver Quantitative+2
AI‑bubble debate
- Macro pieces on the 2025 AI stock rally cite Western Digital and Seagate as examples of AI infrastructure names with bubble‑like price action, even if their earnings currently justify much of the move. ^[47]

8. What December 8, 2025 really tells you about Western Digital stock

Putting everything together, today’s news and forecasts paint a fairly coherent picture:

Western Digital is now a focused AI‑storage infrastructure company, not a generic PC‑drive maker. The spin‑off of SanDisk, the AI Data Cycle framework, and the SC25 product slate all reinforce that pivot. ^[48]
Fundamentals are strong: Q1 FY26 delivered 27% revenue growth and triple‑digit EPS growth, with guidance and hyperscaler orders suggesting multi‑quarter visibility. ^[49]
The Street is still broadly bullish: the overwhelming majority of analysts rate WDC a Buy, and the freshest targets cluster around $180–$200+, with some outliers at $250. ^[50]
At the same time, the easy money looks behind it: average 12‑month targets that include older numbers now imply anything from slight downside to modest upside, and virtually every serious analysis stresses cyclical and valuation risks. ^[51]

For growth‑oriented, high‑risk investors, WDC is being cast as a high‑beta way to express a view that AI storage requirements will keep surging for years, with Western Digital’s high‑capacity HDD franchise and systems business right in the middle of that build‑out.

For more conservative or income‑oriented investors, the picture is less comfortable: the dividend is still tiny, the stock is volatile, insider selling is non‑trivial, and the business remains tied to a historically cyclical industry and a handful of massive customers.

Either way, December 8, 2025 reinforces Western Digital’s new identity:

A once‑sleepy hardware name that has turned into a central character in the AI infrastructure story — with the price now reflecting both its potential and its risks.

This article is for information and education only and is not investment advice. If you’re considering Western Digital stock, it’s important to:

Match any position size to your risk tolerance and time horizon.
Stress‑test your own thesis against both the bull and bear cases above.
Consider speaking with a qualified financial adviser before making high‑risk, single‑stock decisions.

References