New York, Feb 20, 2026, 17:31 ET — After-hours
- Sandisk shares were up about 4.7% in late trading on Friday.
- Western Digital’s secondary sale was priced at $545 a share, with Sandisk getting no proceeds.
- Investors are watching whether more former-parent stock hits the market and what management says at conferences starting Feb. 25.
Sandisk shares rose about 4.7% to $649.97 in after-hours trading on Friday.
The move comes days after Sandisk priced a secondary public offering of 5,821,135 shares at $545 each, a sale of existing stock owned by former parent Western Digital. Sandisk said it is not selling any shares and will not receive proceeds; it expects Western Digital to hold 1,691,884 shares after the debt-for-equity swap tied to the deal. (Stock Titan)
Western Digital is using the transaction to cut debt, planning to raise about $3.17 billion as it pares a $4.69 billion debt pile disclosed as of January. The secondary was priced at a 7.7% discount to Sandisk’s prior close, and Western Digital has said it intends to sell the rest of its Sandisk stake over time. (Reuters)
A prospectus supplement described the mechanics: Western Digital is expected to exchange Sandisk shares for Term A-3 loans and term loans totaling about $3.086 billion, which would be cancelled once the swap is completed. The filing said the debt-for-equity exchange parties — not Sandisk or Western Digital — receive the cash proceeds from selling the stock in the offering. (SEC)
An SEC registration statement filed this week showed Western Digital had registered up to 7,513,019 Sandisk shares for resale and flagged debt-for-equity exchanges as its preferred exit route. The filing also detailed a prior June 2025 exchange and sale of more than 21 million Sandisk shares, leaving Western Digital with the remaining block. (SEC)
Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani called the deal “a material acceleration of WDC’s deleveraging efforts,” and said it could improve capital allocation, including potential buybacks that lift earnings per share. (Morningstar)
Western Digital shares were up about 0.3% on Friday, while Micron rose about 2.6%, keeping much of the storage and memory group bid into the close.
Sandisk has leaned hard into datacenter demand tied to AI infrastructure, and it raised its third-quarter outlook in late January after posting $3.03 billion of fiscal second-quarter revenue. “This quarter’s performance underscores our agility in capitalizing on better product mix,” CEO David Goeckeler said at the time. (Sandisk)
But the setup cuts both ways. A big secondary can clear the air quickly, or it can turn into a lingering overhang if more stock comes out in blocks — especially in a cyclical market where flash pricing and cloud spending can flip faster than management roadshows.
Next on the calendar, Sandisk said management will present at Bernstein’s TMT forum on Feb. 25, followed by Morgan Stanley’s technology conference on March 3 and a Cantor event on March 11. Traders will listen for demand and pricing signals — and for any hint of how fast Western Digital wants to finish its exit. (Stock Titan)
