July 31 (Reuters) - Western Digital Corp ( WDC )

forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on

Wednesday, signaling a slower-than-expected recovery in the

company's data storage products.

The AI boom has helped some memory chipmakers such as Micron

technology in the middle of a steep industry downturn,

but the demand for chips used in conventional data centers

continues to fall, hurting memory chip companies like WDC.

Shares of the company were down 4.2% in extended trading.

The data storage products maker expects first-quarter

revenue in the range $4 billion to $4.20 billion, compared with

analysts' estimates of $4.22 billion, according to LSEG data.

It sees adjusted earnings per share in the range of $1.55 to

$1.85, compared with estimates of $1.74.

Western Digital's ( WDC ) fourth-quarter revenue stood at $3.76

billion beating analysts' average expectations of $3.74 billion.

The adjusted profit per share came in at 88 cents, compared

with estimates of $1.17.

Revenue of the company's flash memory business which is

expected to operate separately from its traditional hard disk

drive unit by the second half of 2024, rose nearly 28% to $1.76

billion.

Rival Seagate Technology ( STX ) forecast upbeat revenue for

its first quarter last week, driven by increased demand for

memory chips from personal computing and data center clients.