SanDisk Surges Nearly 14% as CoreWeave Earnings Reignite AI Memory Trade

SanDisk shares closed up 13.69% on Wednesday, making it the best-performing component of the S&P 500 for the session, after CoreWeave reported blowout third-quarter results that revived confidence in AI infrastructure spending and sent memory stocks broadly higher. CoreWeave posted Q3 revenue of $3.66 billion, up 168% year over year and ahead of Wall Street estimates of roughly $3.55 billion, then raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook to $13.3 billion and disclosed $9 billion in customer prepayments, demonstrating that AI buildout financing remains robust. CoreWeave CEO comments that AI demand currently outpaces the world's capacity to supply it amplified the relief rally, which added approximately $1.2 trillion to the US stock market.

The gains spread across the memory and storage sector. Micron climbed 13%, Seagate rose 12%, Nebius jumped 17%, and Marvell added 8.5%, while Nvidia recovered roughly 4% after a bruising two-day slide. SanDisk, which had been among the biggest losers during the Nasdaq 100's 11% decline from its October high, led the group at various points during the session with intraday gains reaching as high as 16-17%. The VistaShares Artificial Intelligence Supercycle ETF rose 8.8% on the day, with SanDisk as one of its top-performing components.

Evercore defended SanDisk after the recent selloff and argued the stock is not done recovering, saying three structural changes underway in the memory industry could send shares more than doubling from current levels. Despite Wednesday's rally, SanDisk remains well off its highs from earlier in the year, though the stock is still up roughly 300% year to date. Analysts are divided on whether the broader bounce has staying power, with the answer seen hinging largely on how AI infrastructure buildouts continue to be financed going forward.