Western Digital (WDC) shares plummeted 5.13% during intraday trading on Monday, extending earlier pre-market losses as a broad selloff swept through the storage and semiconductor sectors.
The sharp decline follows a strong rally of approximately 9.42% over the prior week, fueled by robust earnings expectations and Wedbush raising its price target from $540 to $650 while maintaining an Outperform rating. With the company scheduled to report quarterly earnings on August 5 after market close, with expected EPS of $3.24, profit-taking pressure intensified ahead of the reporting window. Additionally, concerns over supply competition from China's CXMT aggressively entering the market have weighed on sector valuations.
The broader chip sector also faced heavy selling pressure, with SanDisk falling over 4%, Seagate Technology declining nearly 4%, and other semiconductor names including Micron Technology, Wolfspeed, and Intel all trading lower. The coordinated weakness across the storage and semiconductor space underscored growing caution among investors ahead of key earnings releases and rising competitive threats.