Shares of Lake Forest’s Western Digital Corp., the biggest maker of drives for computers and consumer electronics, defied a down day on Wall Street Wednesday with a flurry of bullish options trading activity.
The stock closed up nearly 4% on a recent market value of $6.6 billion.
Western Digital rose on a spike in options trading—meaning a cadre of investors is betting that the company’s shares could rise.
Typically, an increase in options trading accompanies takeover speculation.
One market watcher dismissed the prospect of a buyout for Western Digital.
“There were reports earlier today that the stock was getting a boost from takeover rumors, but I’m skeptical that there’s much to it,” said Eric Savitz, who writes a tech blog on Barrons.com.
Other related tech stocks also rose on Wednesday, including a handful of memory chip companies and Western Digital’s top rival, Seagate Technology LLC of Scotts Valley.
Western Digital started off the year strong but in the past six months has slumped some, along with other tech stocks, on concerns about consumer spending and flagging PC demand.
The company’s shares are off more than 30% in the past six months and has lagged the Nasdaq as a whole as well as the S&P 500.
