Western Digital Surges 4.75% on AI Storage Momentum as Sector Leaders Rally

Summary
• Western Digital (WDC) rockets 4.75% to $177.60, hitting its 52-week high of $178.94
• Lenovo’s AI storage innovations and Seagate’s 3.54% rally fuel sector optimism
• Options chain shows 65.64% price surge in 175-strike call options with $465k turnover
Western Digital’s explosive intraday move reflects a perfect storm of sector-specific AI infrastructure demand and technical momentum. With Lenovo’s new storage solutions targeting AI workloads and Seagate trailing the rally, the data storage sector is recalibrating for a new era of performance-driven growth. The stock’s 4.75% surge—its largest single-day gain in over a year—positions it at a critical inflection point between short-term euphoria and long-term sustainability.

Lenovo's AI Storage Innovations Ignite Sector Optimism
Lenovo’s announcement of AI-optimized storage arrays and hyperconverged infrastructure solutions directly addresses the sector’s $80B market gap in AI-ready storage. The ThinkSystem DS Series’ all-flash architecture and ThinkAgile FX Series’ multi-vendor flexibility align with Western Digital’s own NVMe and SSD product lines. This creates a clear demand multiplier effect as enterprises upgrade legacy storage for AI workloads. The 4.75% surge coincides with Lenovo’s $69B revenue firm’s strategic pivot toward AI infrastructure, validating WDC’s position in the data storage value chain.

Data Storage Sector Rally Gains Steam as Seagate Trails WDC's Surge
While Western Digital leads with 4.75% gains, Seagate Technology (STX) trails at 3.54%. This 1.21% gap reflects WDC’s stronger positioning in enterprise-grade AI storage versus STX’s consumer HDD focus. The sector’s 2.8% average intraday gain underscores broad-based optimism, but WDC’s 13.18x dynamic P/E versus STX’s 11.4x suggests market differentiation in AI-readiness valuations.

Options and ETFs Highlight Bullish Momentum with Strategic Leverage
• MACD: 6.55 (above signal line 6.26), Histogram: 0.297 (bullish divergence)
• RSI: 63.32 (neutral to overbought threshold)
• 30D MA: 156.71 (below current price), 200D MA: 81.65 (far below)
• Bollinger Bands: Price at 177.60 (near upper band 176.28)
Western Digital’s technicals scream continuation. The 175-strike call (WDC20251219C175) and 170-strike call (WDC20251219C170) offer optimal leverage. The 175C has 64.67% price change potential with 20.13% leverage ratio and 0.5949 delta, while the 170C offers 65.64% price surge potential with 14.49% leverage and 0.6930 delta. Both contracts show high liquidity (465k and 258k turnover) and strong gamma (0.0217 and 0.0185), indicating sensitivity to price acceleration. Under a 5% upside scenario (target $186.48), the 175C payoff would be $11.48/share, while the 170C yields $16.48/share. Aggressive bulls should prioritize the 175C for its higher leverage and tighter delta-gamma balance.

Backtest Western Digital Stock Performance
The backtest of Western Digital Corporation (WDC) after an intraday surge of at least 5% from 2022 to the present shows favorable short-to-medium-term performance. The 3-day win rate is 56.21%, the 10-day win rate is 61.74%, and the 30-day win rate is 70.41%, indicating a higher probability of positive returns in the immediate aftermath of such events. The maximum return observed was 13.08% over 30 days, suggesting that WDC can offer decent gains even within a relatively short time frame following a significant intraday spike.

Bullish Technicals and Sector Synergy Signal Aggressive Buy Setup
Western Digital’s 4.75% surge is technically and fundamentally validated by AI storage demand and strong options positioning. The 175-strike call’s 64.67% price change potential and 20.13% leverage ratio make it a top-tier play if the $178.94 52-week high holds. Sector leader Seagate’s 3.54% rally confirms the trend’s breadth. Immediate support at $162.39 and resistance at $178.94 define the critical range. Aggressive investors should target the 175C for a 5% upside scenario, while monitoring Seagate’s performance as a sector barometer. Watch for a break above $178.94 to confirm the next leg higher.