New York, Feb 19, 2026, 10:03 EST — Regular session
Sandisk Corp shares rose about 1.7% to $610.80 in morning trade on Thursday, after a discounted sale of stock by former parent Western Digital set a near-term marker for the name. (Google)
The swing matters because this is supply, not a new product or an earnings beat. Big blocks can pressure a stock that has been running, and they often dictate the tone for the next few sessions.
A filing on Feb. 17 showed Western Digital, the selling stockholder, may offer up to 7,513,019 Sandisk shares “from time to time,” and that Sandisk would not receive any proceeds from those sales. The document also laid out a route Western Digital could use: exchanging Sandisk shares for Western Digital debt, then selling the stock into the market. (SEC)
Sandisk said on Wednesday it priced a secondary public offering of 5,821,135 shares at $545 per share — all shares owned by Western Digital — and reiterated it is not selling stock in the deal and will receive no proceeds. It said the transaction is expected to close on Feb. 19, subject to customary conditions. (Business Wire)
Reuters reported the sale is designed to help Western Digital cut debt and would raise about $3.17 billion, with the shares swapping hands through affiliates tied to J.P. Morgan and Bank of America. Reuters also said Sandisk shares fell about 3% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the terms were announced. (Reuters)
Western Digital CFO Kris Sennesael said on the company’s last earnings call it was “our intention to monetize those shares before the one-year anniversary” of the separation, MarketWatch reported. Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani called the deal “a material acceleration of WDC’s deleveraging efforts,” according to the same report. (MarketWatch)
For Sandisk holders, the math is awkward but simple. The $545 offering price sits well below where SNDK is trading, and that discount can pull in profit-takers even when the company itself is not raising capital.
The other side is that blocks clear. Once the paper is placed, investors tend to move on — unless another seller shows up.
Sandisk is a NAND flash maker — storage memory used in solid-state drives — so sentiment still tracks data-center spending and pricing cycles as much as any corporate action. Traders have been quick to reprice these stocks when the AI build-out looks strong, and just as quick to fade them on any hint of a pause.
The risk is that Western Digital’s remaining stake keeps an overhang. If more shares hit the tape in another exchange or a distribution, or if the memory cycle cools, SNDK can give back gains fast.
The next catalyst is mechanical: the market is watching for the secondary sale to close as scheduled later Thursday and for any disclosure on how quickly Western Digital plans to unwind what’s left. (Barchart)
