New York, March 2, 2026, 16:41 (ET) — After-hours.
Sandisk Corporation shares were down 2.6% at $619.08 in after-hours trading on Monday, which follows the U.S. market’s 4 p.m. close. The Nasdaq-listed flash-memory maker traded between $609.50 and $624.36 during the session, with about 17.4 million shares changing hands.
The pullback came after U.S. stocks whipsawed following weekend U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran that killed Tehran’s Supreme Leader, sending oil higher and pushing investors into and out of risk assets in quick bursts. “When people get scared, they go back to what is comfortable,” Bill Smead, founder and chairman of Smead Capital Management, said as investors returned to familiar names like Nvidia later in the day. Reuters
Sandisk has traded as an AI-linked hardware proxy as big cloud firms and other tech companies build out data centers. “There is very little definitive right now,” Kristina Hooper, chief market strategist at Man Group, said of the market’s debate over AI’s winners and losers, a theme investors will keep stress-testing through the week’s data and earnings. Reuters
Other storage and AI hardware-linked shares were mixed in late trading. Western Digital fell 3.4% and Seagate slid 7.0%, while Nvidia rose 3.0%.
Sandisk’s sharp run over recent months has left the stock sensitive to any change in risk appetite. In late January, the company pointed to surging AI-driven demand for flash storage and extended its supply agreement with Japan partner Kioxia through 2034; CEO David Goeckeler told Reuters at the time that “Customers prefer supply over price.” Reuters
Investors also continue to watch for any share overhang tied to the split from Western Digital. Western Digital said in February it planned to raise $3.17 billion by selling part of its Sandisk stake to cut debt, and it intended to sell the rest eventually. Reuters
Beyond company specifics, the macro tape is driving the trade. A sustained jump in oil prices can feed inflation worries and complicate the path for interest rates, a setup that tends to hit higher-valuation growth stocks harder.
There’s another risk closer to the business: memory is cyclical. If supply loosens or large AI customers slow spending, pricing power can fade quickly, and storage makers usually feel it first.
The next near-term catalyst is Sandisk management’s scheduled appearance at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on Tuesday at 7:50 p.m. ET, where investors will listen for updates on data-center demand and long-term supply deals. barchart.com
