New York, January 31, 2026, 09:24 EST — Market closed.
- Sandisk shares jumped 6.8% to close at $576.25 on Friday, having peaked near $676 earlier in the session
- The flash-memory maker projected quarterly results well beyond Wall Street’s expectations and pushed its Kioxia joint venture extension out to 2034
- Traders are eyeing Monday’s open for signs of follow-through, fresh analyst notes, and hints on how long the flash supply will remain tight
Sandisk shares ended Friday up 6.8% at $576.25, following an early jump sparked by a profit forecast that blew past estimates and a new supply deal with Japan’s Kioxia. The stock soared to $675.88 intraday, roughly a 25% gain at its peak, before retreating sharply on heavy trading volume.
The late-week shift is key as investors ramp up positions in memory and storage stocks, driven by the AI data-center expansion moving beyond chips to the hardware that handles data storage and transfer. Flash memory—the storage chips powering solid-state drives (SSDs)—is now tightening, echoing the price surge already seen in DRAM, the “working memory” located nearer processors.
Sandisk’s updated guidance lands squarely in that range. It also tightens expectations for the upcoming period. Following a blistering January rally, the stock has little margin for error now.
Sandisk, spun off from Western Digital in February 2025, posted fiscal Q2 revenue of $3.03 billion and GAAP net income of $803 million, or $5.15 per share. Adjusted earnings — excluding stock comp and separation charges — came in at $6.20 per share. Datacenter sales surged 64% sequentially to $440 million. For fiscal Q3, Sandisk expects revenue between $4.4 billion and $4.8 billion, with adjusted EPS in the $12 to $14 range.
CEO David Goeckeler told Reuters that AI has pushed up demand for flash storage, despite most industry shortage chatter centering on DRAM. He highlighted “inference” — the process where AI models respond to users — which pulls stored data into compute systems, driving customer urgency. “Customers prefer supply over price,” he noted. Reuters
The supply side isn’t just theoretical. Sandisk and Kioxia pushed their joint-venture deal at Kioxia’s Yokkaichi plant out to Dec. 31, 2034, extending it from the previous 2029 deadline. Sandisk will shell out $1.165 billion to Kioxia for manufacturing services and supply access, paid in installments from 2026 through 2029. Kioxia CEO Nobuo Hayasaka said the arrangement strengthens their partnership. Sandisk CEO Goeckeler described the venture as “a thriving collaboration” spanning NAND research and production. Sandisk
Analysts reacted swiftly to the forecast. Morgan Stanley noted earnings appear “above the long-term trend” and could hold steady if AI demand stays strong, Reuters reported. The same story highlighted Sandisk’s roughly 160% gain in January, with at least five brokerages boosting price targets—including Bernstein’s $1,000 mark, one of the highest on Wall Street. Reuters
Western Digital, Seagate Technology, and Micron have all been swept up in the same momentum. Investors have leaned on these names to bet on the memory crunch and the surge in AI hardware development.
Friday’s trading also highlighted just how volatile this group can be when guidance shifts the outlook. Western Digital’s shares dropped despite a third-quarter revenue forecast that beat estimates, proving that positioning and profit-taking often overshadow the underlying fundamentals in the short term.
Sandisk faces a simple test on Monday: can the stock maintain Friday’s close following that sharp intraday reversal? The early jump followed by a fade hints traders were eager to take profits, while longer-term investors stayed focused on the supply narrative.
Investors will be watching closely for further remarks on contract details and pricing strength. When flash supply tightens, the focus quickly moves from units to terms — the length of customer commitments, upfront payments, and whether prices hold steady.
The familiar risk for memory stocks remains: supply could outpace demand, flipping the cycle. If flash production accelerates beyond projections or AI investment slows, pricing power might slip, turning a bullish forecast into a peak instead of a fresh baseline.
U.S. markets are shut for the weekend, so all eyes turn to the open on Feb. 2. That’s when investors will weigh in on the earnings beat, the Kioxia extension, and fresh analyst target revisions.
