SanDisk Shares Up 3% in AI Storage Sector Rally

SanDisk Corporation's shares climbed more than 3 percent on Monday, buoyed by a broader rally in data storage stocks amid renewed analyst optimism over surging demand driven by artificial intelligence applications. The Nasdaq-listed company, a leading provider of flash memory solutions, closed at $72.46 after reaching a midday high of $73.60, with trading volume at about 12.6 million shares, below its average.

The uptick in SanDisk followed a positive reassessment of the storage sector by Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring, who raised his price target for Seagate Technology to $58.20 from $46.80 and designated the hard disk drive maker as the bank's top pick in information technology hardware. Woodring also increased his target for Western Digital to $38 from $36.90, citing strengthening demand for storage solutions, extended visibility into shortages potentially lasting until 2029, and improved pricing power. Seagate's stock surged 8.3 percent to a record $46, while Western Digital rose 3.2 percent to $30.44 in premarket trading.

Analysts attributed the sector's momentum to the insatiable appetite for data storage fueled by AI workloads. Cloud infrastructure expansion and...