Western Digital Shares Fall but Are Up for Week

Shares of Irvine disk-drive maker Western Digital Corp. fell nearly 14% Friday after posting large gains throughout the week on takeover rumors and news of improvements in the beleaguered industry. The stock fell 94 cents a share to $5.94 on trading of nearly 13.4 million shares, the seventh-largest volume Friday in U.S. markets. But the shares still showed a gain of 58.3% for the week. The stock, which closed at $3.75 the previous week, rose to $4.38 on Monday amid speculation that the inventory glut and price war were beginning to ease in the industry. Fueled by rumors on Wall Street that International Business Machines was looking to buy out the company, the stock continued to move up, closing Thursday at $6.88. Several analysts said they didn’t know of any news that could be driving down the stock, but some attributed the decline to profit-taking. “It’s Friday,” said Jeff Pittsburg, partner in Goldes Pittsburg Institutional Investors. “People are getting out.”