NEW YORK, Feb 17, 2026, 05:00 EST — Premarket
- Sandisk shares slipped in premarket trade while chip stocks softened across the board.
- Traders are eyeing Wednesday’s Fed minutes, a heavy slate of U.S. data, and Nvidia’s earnings coming up on Feb. 25.
- Sandisk’s last major catalyst: earnings in late January, along with an optimistic outlook.
Sandisk Corp shares slipped roughly 0.5% ahead of Tuesday’s open, the flash-memory maker shadowing weakness across semiconductor stocks.
Timing’s in play here. With U.S. markets shut Monday for Presidents Day, traders are back in action, eyes on the Fed’s January meeting minutes coming Wednesday. Later this week, inflation figures are also expected. 1
Sandisk has played the role of a high-beta stand-in for data-center momentum, with demand reacting sharply to shifts in rate outlooks and the latest AI spending chatter. Shares have been choppy ever since the Western Digital split—investors aren’t giving much slack when sentiment sours. 2
Sandisk slipped 0.6% to close at $626.56 in the final regular session ahead of the holiday. 3
Other storage and chip stocks slipped as well, with former parent Western Digital, Micron Technology, and Seagate Technology all trading lower in early action. Nvidia shares lost roughly 2.2%.
Sandisk’s last major spark came with its fiscal Q2 numbers on Jan. 29. The company reported $3.03 billion in revenue, also projecting third-quarter sales between $4.40 billion and $4.80 billion. 4
CEO David Goeckeler pointed to the company’s ability to move quickly on a stronger product mix, faster enterprise SSD rollouts, and healthier demand trends, saying, “This quarter’s performance underscores our agility in capitalizing on better product mix, accelerating enterprise SSD deployments, and strengthening market demand dynamics.” 4
The shares hinge largely on how well the industry manages pricing and keeps a handle on NAND flash supply — the memory chips powering solid-state drives. After years of volatile ups and downs, chipmakers are looking to sidestep another painful cycle. 4
Still, there’s another side to this. A hawkish tone in the Fed minutes—or a hotter inflation print Friday—could send yields climbing. That tends to squeeze valuations for momentum tech, even if demand at these companies isn’t wavering. 5
Eyes are turning to Nvidia’s earnings out next week, with Wall Street hoping for clues on AI infrastructure budgets—a key factor for enterprise storage demand. The company will hold its fourth-quarter call on Feb. 25. 6
Sandisk is looking ahead to a few key events: the Fed minutes on Wednesday, Friday’s PCE inflation data, plus whatever action chip stocks see leading into Nvidia’s earnings on Feb. 25. 5
