SanDisk shares rallied in afternoon trading, climbing from an intraday low of $1,773.51 to trade at $1,920, representing a 3.3% gain as investors refocused on the company’s role as a major NAND flash supplier to large AI infrastructure builders. The move followed a Reuters report that Meta Platforms signed a multi-year contract to buy flash storage from SanDisk as part of an ambitious AI buildout that targets seven gigawatts of computing capacity in 2026 and aims to double that by 2027.
Analyst and market signals reinforced the recovery. UBS issued a note highlighting that global memory sales had reached a record level, prompting the firm to raise its outlook for the memory market and to forecast continued contract price increases for both NAND and DRAM - factors that support SanDisk’s pricing power.
Wall Street confidence added to the momentum. Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider reiterated a Buy rating with a $2,200 price target, and Bernstein previously raised its target from $1,700 to $3,000 while maintaining an Outperform rating. Those positions helped underpin demand for SanDisk stock even after a rocky start to the trading session.
Shares had opened at $1,781.28 following pre-market pressure linked to SK Hynix’s $26.5 billion Nasdaq initial public offering - the largest U.S. listing by a foreign company on record. Market participants worried that ETF rebalancing tied to that landmark IPO could force managers to trim existing memory holdings, including names such as SanDisk and Micron, creating near-term selling pressure.
The broader market was mildly constructive during the session, with the S&P 500 up 0.4% and the Nasdaq rising 0.3%. However, New York Fed President John Williams introduced a note of caution, flagging AI-driven demand as a potential inflationary factor that might require additional rate hikes - a macro uncertainty that could affect technology and semiconductor sectors.
Ultimately, the combination of the Meta supply agreement momentum, UBS’s more sanguine memory pricing outlook, and bullish price targets from major dealers absorbed the SK Hynix-related selling and allowed SanDisk to move solidly into positive territory. The rebound suggests institutional demand for a leading pure-play NAND flash supplier remains intact as the company heads toward its next earnings report, scheduled for August 13.
Market data cited in this piece: SanDisk traded at $1,919.90 in real-time data near 15:34:02 USD, up $61.63 (3.32%). The session showed volatility tied to the SK Hynix IPO and subsequent ETF reweighting concerns while analyst ratings and memory market forecasts provided offsetting support.