New York, Feb 23, 2026, 10:03 EST — Regular session.
- Sandisk shares rose about 5% in early trading, after a choppy open.
- Focus remains on Western Digital’s stake sell-down and what it means for supply of SNDK stock.
- Investors are looking ahead to Feb. 25 events for fresh signals on AI infrastructure demand.
Sandisk Corp shares rose 5.2% to $683.53 by mid-morning on Monday, after swinging between $645.88 and $691.50. About 5 million shares had changed hands.
The flash-memory maker has become a proxy for the AI data-center buildout, where demand for NAND flash — storage chips used in solid-state drives — has tightened parts supply and boosted pricing power across the memory chain.
That matters now because the stock is trading with a new kind of sensitivity: any hint of easing demand or a rush of stock for sale can hit the tape fast. This week brings both.
Former parent Western Digital said last week it would raise $3.17 billion by selling part of its stake in Sandisk, swapping about 5.8 million Sandisk shares for debt held by affiliates of JPMorgan and BofA Securities. Western Digital said the transaction would cut a debt pile of $4.69 billion as of January and leave it with about 1.7 million Sandisk shares it intends to sell eventually. (Reuters)
The deal was priced at $545 a share, and Sandisk will not receive proceeds because it is not issuing new stock — it is a secondary offering, meaning an existing holder is selling. Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani said the move accelerates Western Digital’s debt reduction and could improve capital allocation, including buybacks. (MarketWatch)
Investors are also leaning hard on the broader memory shortage story. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis called the squeeze a memory “choke point” for AI, as big tech races for limited supply. (Business Insider)
Sandisk has pointed to the same trend in its own numbers. In late January, it reported fiscal second-quarter revenue of $3.03 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $6.20 a share, and forecast third-quarter revenue of $4.40 billion to $4.80 billion; CEO David Goeckeler said its products play a “critical role” in powering AI. (Sandisk)
Western Digital shares rose 0.8% in early trading on Monday.
The next read-through will come from management commentary and, indirectly, from AI bellwethers. Hyperscalers — the biggest cloud operators — can move component demand with a single capex shift.
But the setup cuts both ways. If memory supply loosens faster than expected, or if AI infrastructure spending slows, Sandisk’s pricing tailwind can fade quickly — and Western Digital’s remaining stake is still a known seller even if the timing is not.
Sandisk executives are scheduled to present at Bernstein’s “What’s Next in Tech?” TMT forum on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET, with a webcast planned. (Seeking Alpha)
Later that day, Nvidia will host a 5 p.m. ET call to discuss quarterly results — a report many investors use as a gauge of AI buildout and the supply chain around it. (Nvidia)
