SanDisk shares took another hit Tuesday, falling 14% to close near $1,096 and extending a one-month rout to 47%. The selloff was triggered by SK Hynix's quarterly results, which missed analysts' expectations — revenue of $54.5 billion versus the $57.7 billion consensus, and operating profit of $41.6 billion below forecasts. The miss revived fears that the artificial intelligence boom, which had driven massive demand for memory chips, might be cooling.
Options Traders Show Mixed Sentiment
The put-call ratio, a gauge of bearish versus bullish bets, eased from 1.54 on July 22 to 1.02 by volume. That suggests some cautious optimism among options traders. But open interest data still leans bearish, indicating that the broader options market hasn't turned the corner.
Analysts Remain Bullish but Cautious
Wall Street analysts still rate SanDisk a Strong Buy on average, with a price target of $2,053. Goldman Sachs leads the bulls at $2,200, and Bernstein is the most optimistic at $3,000. But not everyone is holding firm. Wells Fargo and Argus have downgraded to Hold, and Susquehanna trimmed its target from $3,250 to $3,050.
Despite the 47% crash, SanDisk still holds a year-to-date gain of about 362%. The selloff has wiped out roughly $196 billion in market value over the past 25 trading days, according to a widely shared social media post.
The next major test for SanDisk comes on August 5, when the company reports its quarterly earnings. Investors will be watching closely to see whether the AI demand narrative holds up — or if the technical damage signals something deeper.
