Western Digital Reports Strong HDD Revenue Growth and Raises Guidance as Investors Flock to Sandisk

Overview

• Western Digital posted 45% year‑over‑year enterprise HDD revenue growth and 11% sequential revenue growth in fiscal 2026 Q3, driven by demand from data centers and cloud customers.
• The company projected fiscal Q4 revenue of $3.65 billion, which management presented as roughly 9.4% sequential growth and a sign of continued momentum.
• Irving Tan argued that AI training and inference produce large volumes of persistent data that are cost‑efficient to store on HDDs, positioning Western Digital as a core supplier for many storage tiers.
• Market attention has concentrated on Sandisk’s explosive rally and Micron’s gains, leaving Western Digital relatively less noticed despite a roughly 333% year‑to‑date share gain compared with Sandisk’s much larger rally.
• Analysts and industry reports point to a long runway for AI‑related storage but warn that production lead times and rapid price changes in NAND and HDD markets create timing and valuation risks for investors.