New York, January 12, 2026, 09:50 EST — Regular session
- Sandisk shares rise 2.9% in early trade after dropping more than 5%
- AI-linked storage demand and tight supply remain the core driver for the sector
- Investors are looking to Sandisk’s Jan. 29 earnings call for pricing and outlook clues
Shares of Sandisk Corp (SNDK.O) rose 2.9% to $388.33 in early trading on Monday after slipping as much as 5.1% earlier in the session, a reminder of how jumpy this tape has become. The stock traded between $358 and $389.35.
The latest move matters because Sandisk has become a high-beta read on one trade: data storage for artificial intelligence servers. The company sells products built on NAND flash — a type of memory chip used to store data in solid-state drives, or SSDs, which keep data without spinning disks.
The rally has not been uniform across the group. Western Digital was up 0.3% and Micron fell 0.5% in early trade, as investors tried to separate “storage” names from the broader chip complex.
A Wall Street Journal report published Sunday said the rapid build-out of AI infrastructure is eating into supplies of NAND flash, DRAM and hard drives, while manufacturers remain cautious about adding capacity after years of boom-and-bust cycles. “Memory is in the midst of a generational supply and demand mismatch,” Morgan Stanley analyst Joe Moore wrote in a report cited by the Journal. (The Wall Street Journal)
Sandisk shares were among the sector’s standouts last week after Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang highlighted the strain AI workloads are putting on memory and storage, Reuters reported from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Sandisk jumped more than 27% in that session, alongside sharp gains in Western Digital, Seagate and Micron. (Reuters)
Sandisk’s last full update to investors came in November, when it reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $2.31 billion and forecast second-quarter revenue of $2.55 billion to $2.65 billion. Chief Executive David Goeckeler said customers were turning to Sandisk “at a time when demand is strengthening.” (Sandisk)
But this is still a cyclical market, and the downside case is not hard to sketch. Reuters, citing TrendForce, said prices in some memory segments have more than doubled since February last year — the kind of move that can draw in supply and eventually pressure pricing again. (Reuters)
For now, traders are watching channel checks on NAND pricing and any hint that suppliers are stepping up capital spending, which could loosen the squeeze later in the year. Any wobble in AI data-center spending would also test the thesis quickly.
Sandisk said it will hold its fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time. The company’s pricing commentary and guidance update will be the next clear catalyst for the stock. (Sandisk)
