What Is Going on With SanDisk Stock on Friday?

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) stock was down over 8% Friday amid a semiconductor selloff following Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s departure. Investors are also weighing rising competition in NAND flash and concerns about AI infrastructure spending.

The S&P 500 fell 1.0%, Technology dropped 3.30%, and the Nasdaq declined 2.10%, putting SanDisk’s decline against a backdrop of broader selling.

VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) fell 3.94%. Sandisk rivals SK hynix Inc. (NASDAQ:SKHY) and Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) fell 4.91% and 4.50%, respectively, on Friday.

Nvidia Leadership Turmoil Pressures AI-Linked Stocks

The latest semiconductor weakness follows renewed focus on NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) after Huang’s departure raised questions about governance, succession planning and the company’s unusually flat management structure.

Those leadership transition concerns have added pressure across the AI-chip complex. Through Thursday, NVIDIA had fallen 27.28% over the past month, including a 4.34% decline that day.

Sandisk supplies NAND flash memory and storage products used in data centers and other devices.

NAND Competition Intensifies

Sandisk has lost about 34% over the past month as investors weigh whether tighter scrutiny of U.S. data-center construction after the midterm elections could delay AI infrastructure spending and weaken near-term demand for memory and storage.

Competition is also increasing.

Counterpoint Research said SanDisk’s global NAND flash revenue share declined to 11% in the second quarter of 2026 from 13% in the previous quarter.

Chinese rival YMTC held a 14% share, up from 12% in the fourth quarter of 2025. The shift came even as the overall NAND market expanded 70% sequentially.

Adam Sees Opportunity After Semiconductor Pullback

In comments covered by Benzinga on Nov. 6, Raymond James CIO Larry Adam said the AI investment cycle remained intact despite the recent selloff.

Adam said some semiconductor and AI infrastructure stocks were trading at roughly 30% discounts to historical valuations, while next year’s earnings expectations remained healthy and continued moving higher.

He said he would gradually rebuild semiconductor exposure following the decline.

Clode Points to Forced Selling

Janus Henderson technology portfolio manager Richard Clode previously said forced selling had contributed to the earlier downturn after months of volatility and losses among long-short funds.

His comments suggest market positioning and liquidation contributed to the semiconductor decline alongside concerns about underlying AI demand.

Ives Turns More Cautious

Yorkville Ives analyst Dan Ives outlined a more cautious view of semiconductor spending in comments covered by Benzinga on Nov. 6.

Ives said he assumed roughly 10% fewer data centers in his baseline case, with the reduction potentially reaching 15%-20%. He also expected Big Tech capital-spending growth to peak in 2027, earlier than his previous 2028-2029 forecast.

He said he preferred software over semiconductors, although he still expected the AI infrastructure buildout to continue over a longer timeline rather than end.

Technical and Analyst Outlook

Sandisk remains up 251.29% over 12 months, but the current correction has pushed the stock 23.6% below its 20-day SMA, 40.5% below its 50-day SMA and 33.1% below its 200-day SMA.

The stock carries a Buy consensus rating with an average price forecast of $2,176.43. Recent actions include Rosenblatt maintaining Buy with a $2,400 forecast and Wells Fargo maintaining Equal-Weight while lowering its forecast to $1,300.

Price Action

SNDK Stock Price Activity: Sandisk shares were down 8.50% at $857.82 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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