NEW YORK, June 4, 2026, 07:04 (EDT)
SanDisk shares slipped in premarket trading Thursday after hitting a record close, as selling in AI chip stocks hit one of Wall Street’s busiest trades.
The stock fell 5.7% to $1,727.22 in premarket trade at 7:04 a.m. Eastern, after closing Wednesday at $1,831.50. Shares had gained 6.7% in the previous session and touched $1,861.00. The stock is still up around 672% for the year.
SanDisk is now a way to play the memory chip shortage linked to artificial intelligence, as AI demand keeps boosting orders for data-center gear. A quick rally in the stock leaves less space for any letdown.
Morgan Stanley’s Joseph Moore raised his price target on SanDisk to $1,750 from $1,100 while keeping an Overweight rating, according to TipRanks. Moore wrote there’s “no quick fix” for the ongoing memory shortage and said the squeeze could drag on for two to three years or even longer. TipRanks
Buyers were in on Wednesday. But by Thursday morning, the tape looked different.
Broadcom’s shares fell 12.4% premarket after results, pulling down S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures. Reuters reported the drop came after a revenue miss and Broadcom keeping its long-term AI chip forecast unchanged. “Meeting and even slightly beating forecasts is not enough” when expectations are high, AJ Bell’s Dan Coatsworth said. Reuters
SanDisk isn’t Broadcom. SanDisk’s main business is NAND flash, which is memory that holds data when power is cut. The company sells storage for consumer devices, enterprise systems, and data centers. In the U.S., Micron is its nearest public memory competitor.
Sandisk posted fiscal third-quarter revenue up 97% from the prior quarter, at $5.95 billion. Data-center revenue jumped 233%. For the fourth quarter, Sandisk sees revenue at $7.75 billion to $8.25 billion and non-GAAP diluted EPS between $30 and $33. Non-GAAP excludes some accounting items from the profit figure.
SanDisk CEO David Goeckeler is pitching the latest gains as more than just another price rebound. Speaking with Reuters after the results, Goeckeler called the industry’s “boom-bust cycle” its “bane” and said SanDisk is pushing for “consistent, predictable economics.” The company has locked in at least $42 billion in long-term contracts and rolled out a $6 billion buyback. Reuters
But there’s a risk the same shortage boosting SanDisk’s pricing power could weigh on demand or push customers to redesign systems and hold off on buying. Morgan Stanley analysts warned that memory-chip prices have jumped sixfold in the last year, calling the effect “chipflation” as it hits hardware margins, cloud costs and makes devices less affordable, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Reuters
Automakers, retailers, electronics and telecom groups in the U.S. are telling Treasury and Commerce officials that memory chip shortages could mean higher prices for households and hit supply chains. That helps the case for memory chipmakers that supply is tight, but it also brings policy risk, more pushback from buyers and could dent demand.
Traders are watching SanDisk to see if it can keep up its scarcity-fueled profits as the stock trades above several Wall Street targets. Next up is the June 9 Mizuho Technology Conference. Investors are expected to ask about contract details, pricing, and supply at that event.
