SNDK
The memory trade is back in the chat
SanDisk didn’t exactly sneak higher on Tuesday — it blasted up more than 10% after Morgan Stanley turned in a very loud bull case for memory stocks. The gist: the recent pullback may have been a buying opportunity, and memory prices could climb at least 25% from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2026.
That’s not a tiny eyebrow raise. That’s Wall Street basically saying, “Hey, the shortage story might not be over yet.”
Why this matters for your portfolio
Morgan Stanley’s Joseph Moore said the memory cycle is still being powered mostly by data center demand, while consumer electronics, PCs, and smartphones are still acting like the kid at the party who doesn’t want to dance. The bigger point is that channel checks apparently aren’t showing supply pressure easing anytime soon.
And if supply stays tight while AI/data center demand keeps chewing through capacity, pricing power can get spicy fast. For a memory maker like SanDisk, that can mean juicier margins, happier investors, and fewer people asking whether the last rally was just a sugar rush.
The other thing lifting the stock
This wasn’t just an analyst note doing all the work. Broader tech stocks were having a good day too, which helped high-beta names like SanDisk catch a bid before the open. Meanwhile, SK Hynix chair Chey Tae-won added more fuel by saying AI memory prices remain “abnormally high” and that demand could keep expanding hard into next year.
- Morgan Stanley sees the memory cycle strengthening
- It expects memory prices to rise at least 25% from Q2 to Q3 2026
- Data center shortages still look sticky
- SanDisk is already scheduled to report on August 5th
Big picture: when Wall Street starts talking about shortages, supercycles, and pricing power in the same breath, chip stocks tend to get very popular very fast.