Is Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) a buy in 2026?
Yes, on balance. The Compass leans toward accumulating Western Digital Corporation at current levels.
The forgotten spinning-disk business became the AI training data backbone, and the re-rate is only half done.
Where WDC is headed
Western Digital spent a decade being the boring half of a duopoly that nobody under 35 thought about. Then hyperscalers discovered something inconvenient about AI training: model weights are tiny, but the training corpora are absolutely enormous, and you cannot afford to keep petabytes of raw video, sensor logs, and synthetic data on flash. So the HDD orders started piling up in late 2024, the supply response was capped (only three players left, none of them building new factories), and pricing went vertical. The numbers we're staring at, 45.5% revenue growth, 37% operating margins on a business that historically ran at 8-12%, are not a cycle peak. They're the new shape of a structurally tight market.
Read the full Compass Direction on WDC
The complete destination call, the overlooked angle, milestones, and bull, base, and bear price scenarios (around $484.28).
See the full WDC analysisGet calls like this, free
Join the Alexandria e-letter for forward-looking verdicts, earnings intelligence, and the contrarian reads the crowd misses. Twice a week, no noise.
Free forever. Unsubscribe anytime. We never share your email.
Frequently asked questions
Is Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) a buy in 2026?
Yes, on balance. The Compass leans toward accumulating Western Digital Corporation at current levels. The forgotten spinning-disk business became the AI training data backbone, and the re-rate is only half done.
What is WDC's Compass Score?
Western Digital Corporation scores 92/100 on Alexandria's Compass, placing it in the "True North" tier. Scores blend eight factors and update weekly.
What is the price target for WDC?
Alexandria's full Compass Direction includes bull, base, and bear price scenarios with the valuation math behind each. Read the full breakdown on the WDC page.
Compass verdicts are AI-generated, forward-looking editorial research from publicly available data, not investment advice or a recommendation regarding any security. Scores and verdicts update as the data changes.