Western Digital CorporationAI-fueled data storage demand surge with long-term customer contracts and strong revenue growth

Western Digital stock gained 1034% between June 20, 2025, and June 23, 2026, driven by a surge in AI-fueled data storage demand that gave the company significant pricing power. Before the rally, the company had openly described a fundamental change in how its biggest customers were buying, shifting from quarterly purchasing to multi-quarter commitments. By its April 2025 earnings call, Western Digital revealed it had long-term agreements extending through the first half of calendar year 2026 with two of its largest customers. In its fiscal third quarter of 2025, revenue rose 31% year over year, cloud segment revenue jumped 38%, gross margin exceeded 40%, and adjusted operating income reached $596 million, up from $153 million a year earlier. Despite these signals, options traders had grown complacent, with implied volatility falling from the 68th percentile to the 23rd percentile of its one-year range just before the breakout.
Western Digital CorporationAI-fueled data storage demand surge with long-term customer contracts and strong revenue growth
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