New York, Feb 12, 2026, 05:07 EST — Premarket
- Sandisk jumped 7.3% ahead of the bell, with shares last trading at $643.
- Chipmakers are rolling out new updates on the next generation of AI memory supply, prompting the move.
- All eyes on the early bid—traders want to see if it sticks as the cash session gets underway.
Sandisk Corporation jumped 7.3% in premarket action Thursday, reaching $643 after wrapping up Wednesday at $599.34. Early trading saw the stock swing from $641.50 up to $644.
Shares surged early after Samsung Electronics announced it’s begun shipping its latest HBM4 chips to undisclosed clients, aiming to narrow the gap with competitors amid soaring AI data center demand. CTO Song Jai-hyuk from the chip division said customer response has been “very satisfactory.” The company said HBM4 reaches 11.7 gigabits per second, a 22% speed bump over HBM3E. Samsung is also targeting the second half of 2026 to roll out HBM4E samples. Reuters
Sandisk’s relevance here comes down to its flash storage business. Traders have been lumping flash and memory together, treating them as a quick play on the idea that AI infrastructure keeps pushing supply limits. News about high-end AI memory? It tends to ripple right through the broader storage sector.
Micron turned up the pressure after its CFO, speaking at a Wolfe Research event, said the company’s HBM4 chips are not just ready—they’re rolling out in volume and heading to customers now. He dismissed what he called “inaccurate” claims about Micron’s competitive standing in the sector. MarketWatch
HBM stands for high-bandwidth memory, a type of stacked DRAM that pairs with AI accelerators to transfer data quickly. Sandisk’s main business is NAND flash—the non-volatile memory found in SSDs. Yet, for investors, it usually comes down to one thing: are prices pushing higher, or is supply starting to close the gap?
After being spun off by Western Digital, Sandisk made its way back to the public markets last year. The company is now positioned as a clearer bet on flash storage pricing and demand.
The broader question hanging over the market right now: just how long can this squeeze last? Demand from AI racks is relentless—compute, networking, storage, you name it. If traders catch even a whiff that a single bottleneck is loosening, the entire supply chain can shift fast.
The trade’s a double-edged sword. Memory cycles shift quickly, and those big premarket swings often lose steam as liquidity picks up. High-beta storage stocks are especially vulnerable—if customers hold off on orders, or if supply ramps up sooner than anticipated, shares can tumble.
Sandisk faces its next hurdle when regular trading begins at 9:30 a.m. ET. The focus: can the stock hold onto its premarket gains? Traders are also eyeing any fresh news on HBM4 shipments, yields, or pricing before the market wraps up.
