Key Highlights

● Sandisk plunged on Friday, October 30, 2026, despite beating estimates.

● Fiscal first-quarter Earnings of $49.51 a share beat the $46.41 estimate.

● Revenue of $11.0 billion topped the $10.70 billion forecast.

● An 8-for-1 Stock Split takes effect on November 20.

Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) delivered the kind of quarter that usually sends a stock higher. Instead, the flash memory maker's shares plunged on Friday, October 30, 2026. Reports differed on the size of the move, but Sandisk was among the steepest decliners in a market-wide selloff in semiconductors.

The Milpitas, California-based company reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $49.51 a share, ahead of the $46.41 analysts had expected. Revenue reached $11.0 billion, against a forecast of $10.70 billion. Data Center revenue grew sharply. For the second quarter, Sandisk guided earnings to $55 to $57 a share, above the $53.35 consensus.

It also announced an 8-for-1 stock split, effective November 20. A split lowers the price of each share without changing the overall value of the company.

Peak pricing fears

The selling reflected a worry that had little to do with this quarter: that memory pricing is near its top. Memory makers' profits rise and fall with prices, so when investors start to believe prices have peaked, strong current numbers can look like a High-Water Mark rather than a launchpad.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)'s results fed that concern. Intel blamed part of its weak fourth-quarter outlook on memory prices and availability, which it said are slowing PC demand. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said on the call: "In recent weeks, our customers began signaling a PC slowdown based on the memory prices and availability." He added: "Our OEM partners are aggressively managing inventory to match the softer sell-through."

The fear among investors was that if high memory prices are discouraging PC purchases, Demand could cool and prices could follow.

A sector in retreat

Sandisk fell alongside the rest of the storage and memory group. Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) and Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) slid steeply, Micron (NASDAQ:MU) fell, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index closed at 10,688.80 after a steep fall. Intel suffered its biggest one-day drop on record, by one account, while other outlets called it the worst day since 1974.

The broader market had its worst day since June. The Nasdaq Composite fell 747.73 points to 25,437.00, its worst session since June 5, and the Nasdaq-100 closed at 28,384.85. The S&P 500 dropped 140.32 points to 7,580.07, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 572.25 points to 51,770.31.

Concern about AI spending added pressure. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) reported trailing 12-month free Cash Flow of negative $42.4 billion, and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was still recovering from its record selloff on Thursday. "A lot of them kind of got ahead of themselves. It's all earnings based and right now, they're not producing," a trading specialist said.

A senior market analyst said: "The message from investors is becoming clearer: strong AI demand is no longer enough on its own."

What to watch

The split takes effect November 20, and investors will watch whether Sandisk delivers on its $55 to $57 second-quarter guidance. Any sign of softer memory pricing from customers, PC makers or rivals will be scrutinized.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reports on Monday, November 2, and Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) reports Tuesday, November 3, after the close, offering more data on hardware demand. The midterm elections are Tuesday, and the October jobs report arrives Friday, November 6. Markets have priced in a December Fed rate hike, part of the backdrop for high-growth chip stocks.