Shares of SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK | SNDK Price Prediction) are up 14% to roughly $1,873 in midday trading Thursday, while Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) stock is climbing 6% to around $520. The bounce snaps a rough stretch for memory and storage names that had pulled back hard from last week’s highs.
Both moves arrive alongside a broader rebound across the memory complex. The group had been beaten up over the past several sessions, with names in the sector down 18% from the peak heading into Thursday. WDC stock dropped 17% during the same stretch.
Today’s catalyst for SanDisk and Western Digital centers on a long-term capacity announcement out of South Korea that has reignited the AI-storage trade. These remain intraday moves and could certainly reverse in the coming sessions.
SK Hynix Capacity Plan Fuels the Memory Bounce
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won reported that SK Hynix plans to roughly double its wafer capacity within five years and triple it by around 2034 to keep pace with surging demand. Some industry observers think even that may not be enough to meet AI-driven memory needs. That framing reads as a structural positive for NAND, DRAM, and HDD suppliers alike.
SanDisk benefits via NAND flash, where pricing power has expanded sharply. The company’s most recent quarter showed revenue of $5.95 billion, up 251% year over year, with gross margin of 78% versus 23% a year earlier. Moreover, SanDisk’s Datacenter revenue alone surged 645% to $1.47 billion, underscoring the AI infrastructure tailwind.
Western Digital is positioned in HDDs that increasingly anchor AI data-center storage tiers. The company posted non-GAAP EPS of $2.72 vs. $2.39 expected on revenue of $3.34 billion, up 46% year over year. Western Digital CEO Irving Tan recently stated, “Virtually every AI workload, from training, inference, agentic AI to physical AI, creates data that is stored persistently and cost-efficiently on HDDs.”
SanDisk CEO David Goeckeler echoed the durability theme, declaring the latest quarter “a fundamental inflection point” driven by mix shift toward datacenter customers. The company also retired $650 million in debt, reaching a zero long-term debt position.
Peers Snap Back as the Macro Mood Improves
The memory rebound also rides on a steadier macro tape. Wednesday’s 2% drop in the S&P 500 came amid renewed U.S.-Iran tensions, including fresh strikes near the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran declaring the waterway closed. With U.S. futures higher Thursday, risk-on flows have returned to high-beta AI names.
Buy-the-dip behavior is showing up across the memory group. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Micron Technology stock is up 9% alongside the SanDisk and WDC moves, signaling this is a sector-wide reaction rather than a single-name story. SanDisk stock had rallied 592% year to date through Wednesday’s close, so sharp two-way moves come with the territory.
Retail sentiment offers a contrarian wrinkle. Stocktwits sentiment on SanDisk and Western Digital had been bearish heading into today’s pop, even as the WallStreetBets community pivoted hard the other way. Reddit sentiment scores on SNDK stock hit 82, classified as “Very Bullish,” in the hours leading into the open.
What to Watch Now
The next share-price move could depend on whether SanDisk stock holds above $1,800 and whether WDC stock can stay above $520. Sharp bounces frequently follow sharp drops in these names, so follow-through matters here.
The geopolitical backdrop remains a live variable for SanDisk and Western Digital. Any escalation around the Strait of Hormuz, with WTI crude oil currently at $87.54 per barrel, could pull risk appetite back out of memory just as quickly as it returned today. The April oil-price spike to $114.58 is a reminder of how fast the energy backdrop can shift.
Investors may also watch for follow-on commentary from peers in the memory complex. Confirmation of the SK Hynix capacity narrative from rival suppliers, or fresh hyperscaler order data, could extend the move. For now, SanDisk stock and Western Digital stock have reclaimed the AI-storage momentum trade, at least until the next macro or company-specific headline lands.
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