Western Digital Shares Popped: What You Need to Know (SNDK, STEC, WDC)

Western Digital Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

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Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Western Digital (NYSE: WDC ) soared more than 10% in intraday trading today after rumors surfaced that data storage peer Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX ) is being shopped to an acquirer.

So what: As often happens when buyout rumors surface, Seagate rose more than 20% on the news. Western Digital appears to be rising for no other reason because it offers much of what Seagate offers. Call it a sympathy pop.

Now what: I'm not usually one to advocate buying when the speculative sharks are circling, especially in a competitive market like data storage, where emerging solid-state drive suppliers STEC (Nasdaq: STEC ) and SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK ) are growing more formidable. Still, the Seagate rumors could've created an opportunity. Western Digital is cash-rich and blessed with a strong brand name in an important market. More institutions are going to see that now, and that means more institutional buying and higher prices.

Interested in more info on Western Digital? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

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Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock-picking team. He didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article at the time of publication. Check out Tim's portfolio holdings and Foolish writings, or connect with him on Twitter as @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader. The Motley Fool is also on Twitter as @TheMotleyFool. Its disclosure policy is at least 10% better than other disclosure policies.

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