$MU

SanDisk shares rose about 15% after its 2026 Investor Day, where management targeted non-GAAP gross margins around 80% sustained through fiscal 2030 and non-GAAP operating margins near 75%, supported by New Business Model agreements with eight customers covering about two-thirds of bits shipped by FY2028. Western Digital, SK hynix, and Micron also gained. Wall Street expects normalized earnings of about $213.23, $265.12, and $214.10 over the next three years.

Goldman Sachs data cited by The Kobeissi Letter says the top 10 US stocks accounted for 16.4% of total notional dollar trading volume so far in 2026. Nvidia led at 3.0%, followed by Micron (2.8%), Tesla (2.1%), and SanDisk (1.5%). Liquidity was uneven, with SanDisk’s spread at 12.4 bps versus 5.9 bps for the S&P 500 average.

A 13F filing for Situational Awareness (Leopold Aschenbrenner) shows large June end holdings in AI-related stocks including Sandisk, Micron Technology, Bloom Energy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Nebius Group, plus $745m in CoreWeave. These names fell sharply in July, contributing to a liquidity crunch and forced sales to Citadel. Sandisk -47%, Micron -29%, CoreWeave also hit.

Appaloosa Management, led by David Tepper, increased its Amazon stake by over 15% to nearly $1.2B in Q2, and expanded positions in Meta (+~55% to ~$380M), Alphabet (+~7% to ~$661M), and Apple (new position >$241M), per regulatory filings. It cut Micron by >41% to ~$1.125B and exited SanDisk (> $400M).

New Street Research upgraded Micron Technology (MU) to Buy and set a $1,250 price target, citing a new memory cycle driven by AI demand. The firm says Micron shares rose over 10x from April 2025 lows while COGS rose about 25%, implying different market dynamics. It projects $600B+ cash and $150B+ annual FCF by 2030, with AI about two-thirds of demand.

U.S. stocks rose after tame July PPI data eased Fed-hike concerns. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record levels, up 0.7% and 0.8%. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to about 4.65%. Workday surged on a Reuters report that Silver Lake is in talks to acquire it. Birkenstock jumped after Q3 results and raised 2026 outlook.

AI infrastructure stocks rose Wednesday after strong earnings from Supermicro (SMCI) and AI cloud providers CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS). Supermicro’s Q4 beat and forecast lifted shares over 6%. Nebius revenue topped expectations, while CoreWeave’s results showed accelerating demand and a surging backlog. Lumentum (LITE) revenue more than doubled to $1.01B, lifting peers and memory/storage ETFs.

Tokyo stocks extended their rebound. The Nikkei moved toward 69,000 and TOPIX hit a fresh high, with buying broadening beyond technology into financials, materials, energy and industrials. The yen stayed near 159 per dollar. Investors also tracked BOJ rate-hike expectations after Reuters reported possible action at the Sept 17-18 meeting and inflation data.

Counterpoint Research says enterprise SSDs used in data centers and AI hyperscale facilities consumed 48% of global NAND shipments in Q2, up from 26% in 2025 and expected to rise. Samsung led NAND makers with 25% share, SK Hynix 22%, YMTC 14%, Kioxia 14%, Micron 13%, and SanDisk 11%. Counterpoint notes shipment volume may not equal revenue.

The article discusses how “AI spending 2026” figures differ by definition. It cites about $2.6 trillion in broad global AI spending or commitments, versus about $725 billion in 2026 capex expected from Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta. It also references Reuters and Nikkei estimates of future lease obligations totaling roughly $1.09 trillion to $1.65 trillion, highlighting off-balance-sheet commitments.