MW The memory trade is faltering as Western Digital's stock slides in the face of earnings beat

By Britney Nguyen

Investors are panning upbeat results from Western Digital and Sandisk after massive one-year stock rallies

Western Digital stock was down in after-hours trading on Thursday.

Investors were punishing memory stocks in Thursday's extended session - even after strong earnings reports.

Western Digital shares $(WDC)$ were down 8% in after-hours action, joining shares of Sandisk $(SNDK)$, which were off 7%. These could be sell-the-news reactions to strong earnings reports given the extent of gains both stocks have made recently.

Western Digital's stock is up about 900% over the past year, and shares of Sandisk, which spun out of Western Digital early in 2025, are up roughly 3,300%.

See also: Sandisk's eye-popping earnings beat fails to extend the stock's big rally

The fiscal third-quarter report from Western Digital featured revenue of $3.3 billion, up 45% from a year ago, and ahead of the FactSet consensus for $3.2 billion. Adjusted earnings of $2.72 a share also topped estimates for $2.39.

"The demand drivers are clear: Virtually every AI workload, from training, inference, agentic AI to physical AI, creates data that is stored persistently and cost-efficiently on HDDs," Western Digital CEO Irving Tan said in a statement, referring to the company's hard disk drives. He also noted the company's 50.5% gross margin in the quarter, which was up significantly from a year before.

Citing confidence in the business, Tan announced a 20% increase to the quarterly dividend, which will become 15 cents a share.

For the June quarter, Western Digital is guiding for revenue to come in at $3.65 billion, plus or minus $100 million, which is above the FactSet consensus for $3.5 billion. The company's outlook for adjusted EPS calls for that to come in at $3.25, plus or minus 15 cents - also ahead of expectations for $2.75 on FactSet.

Ahead of the report, Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan noted a "favorable pricing environment" due to demand outstripping supply.

Don't miss: Micron's stock has boomed on AI optimism. Now comes the 'tricky part.'

-Britney Nguyen

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April 30, 2026 18:41 ET (22:41 GMT)

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