Western Digital (WDC) Stock Falls 7% as Memory Sector Gets Rattled by SK Hynix Crash

TLDR

• WDC stock fell over 7% Monday, sliding to around $539 in trading
• SK Hynix plunged 15%-plus in Asia — its worst single-day drop ever — triggering a sector-wide selloff
• South Korean brokerage KIS issued a Q2 earnings forecast for SK Hynix roughly 8% below consensus, citing slow HBM4 ramp
• Micron, SanDisk, and Seagate also fell sharply; broader market indices were up on the day
• Citi maintained a Buy on WDC with a raised $800 price target, but it didn’t slow the decline

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Western Digital stock fell more than 7% Monday, dragged down by a sharp selloff that swept across the memory and storage sector. The stock was trading around $539, well below its 52-week high of $799.87.

Western Digital Corporation, WDC

The catalyst wasn’t anything Western Digital did. It was SK Hynix.

SK Hynix crashed more than 15% in South Korea on Monday — the steepest single-day drop in the company’s history. Investors took profits after a strong rally leading into its Nasdaq listing. The move pulled South Korea’s Kospi index down 9% and forced a 20-minute trading halt.

The damage spread fast. SanDisk fell over 6% in premarket. Micron dropped more than 5%. Seagate shed over 4%. The entire memory complex was caught in the same wave.

KIS Earnings Miss Adds Fuel

South Korean brokerage KIS made things worse by releasing a Q2 earnings forecast for SK Hynix that came in about 8% below market consensus.

KIS pointed to two problems: HBM4 chip shipments weren’t scaling as fast as expected, and SK Hynix’s heavy reliance on HBM contracts was limiting its ability to benefit from rising conventional DRAM prices.

That was enough to rattle the whole sector. Investors started asking whether the AI memory supercycle had more momentum left — or was starting to slow.

Nvidia, AMD, and Intel all fell in premarket too, with SanDisk and Micron taking the hardest hits among U.S. names.

Citi Holds Firm at Buy

Not everyone is hitting the panic button. Citi analyst Asiya Merchant maintained her Buy rating on WDC Monday and raised her price target from $685 to $800.

The upgrade was part of Citi’s broader Q2 earnings preview for the electronic components and equipment sector. Merchant has previously cited tight supply and strong AI demand as factors supporting Western Digital’s pricing power.

It didn’t stop the stock from falling, but the call signals that at least some on Wall Street still see the dip as noise rather than a trend change.

Wall Street’s broader consensus on WDC remains strong. Based on 15 Buy ratings and four Holds over the past three months, the stock carries a Strong Buy consensus.

The average price target sits at $648.44, implying around 11% upside from current levels.

The broader U.S. market gave no cover for the selling. The S&P 500 was up 0.4%, the Dow added 0.3%, and the Nasdaq edged 0.3% higher — making clear this was a sector-specific move, not a macro story.

WDC’s 52-week high stands at $799.87. With the stock now trading around $539, the gap between where it is and where analysts think it should be is wide.

Citi’s $800 target, maintained even on a red day, keeps that ceiling in view.