New York, March 3, 2026, 18:32 EST — After-hours
Shares of Nasdaq-listed Western Digital (WDC.O) fell about 7.2% to $250.61 in after-hours trading on Tuesday, after the hard-drive maker hit an intraday low of $244.89.
The slide landed in a market that has turned defensive fast, with investors selling both stocks and bonds and moving into cash. “Oil, and the dollar, are the only two things that people want to own right now,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Investment Management. 1
Investors have been trying to price how long the Middle East conflict might last — and what it does to inflation if energy stays bid. “The reality is setting in that a prolonged conflict could dampen global growth and re‑ignite inflation pressures,” Joseph Tanious, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust Asset Management, told Reuters. 2
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended down 0.94% and the Nasdaq slid 1.02%, after earlier losses of more than 2% as Treasury yields rose. The Cboe Volatility Index (.VIX), often called Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” hit its highest since November, according to Reuters. 3
Western Digital’s drop tracked a broad pullback in storage and memory shares. Seagate Technology was down about 5.8%, Micron Technology fell nearly 8% and Sandisk slid about 8.6%.
At the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference earlier Tuesday, CEO Irving Tan pointed to longer customer commitments as a buffer against the old “two-quarter” cycle. “We have 1 of our top 5 hyperscalers that has given us orders … through to calendar year 2028,” Tan said, adding that the top seven have firm POs — purchase orders — for calendar 2026. 4
In a Feb. 13 statement ahead of the event, Western Digital said the CEO and CFO would present at Morgan Stanley’s conference and that a replay would be posted on its investor site after the talk. 5
On Feb. 3, the company expanded its share repurchase authorization by $4 billion; Tan said the move showed confidence in WD’s future and a focus on returns alongside reinvestment and debt reduction. 6
But the stock is still trading like a high-beta proxy for rates and geopolitics, with valuation-sensitive tech taking the hit when oil and yields jump. A Reuters analysis on Monday said the war adds a new layer of uncertainty to a U.S. economy that had been showing more resilience to shocks. 7
Oil is the near-term check on that narrative: Brent settled at $81.40 a barrel on Tuesday, up 4.7%, and U.S. crude ended at $74.56, up 4.4%, ahead of Wednesday’s U.S. government inventory report. For Western Digital holders, the next company marker is a $0.125-per-share dividend due March 18 to shareholders of record March 5. 8
