Memory stocks claw back after Investor Day

Market Trends and Industry Dynamics - SanDisk experienced a sharp stock price recovery, rising 34% over the past week following an investor day event that also boosted memory peers like SK Hynix, Micron, and Western Digital[1] - The memory sector previously suffered a severe downturn in late July when a 45 billion USD AI fund faced margin calls and liquidated leveraged chip holdings, causing SanDisk to plunge nearly 47% from its June peak to July 29th and 30th[1] - JPMorgan resumed coverage on the sector with an overweight rating, projecting that the NAND memory market will more than quadruple to over 300 billion USD driven by AI inference demand[3] - Wedbush issued a warning that the memory industry remains cyclical, noting that Chinese competition and new capacity expansion could pose risks by 2028[5] - Semiconductor equipment manufacturer Applied Materials dropped about 4% despite an earnings beat because management failed to provide next year's business growth guidance[5] Financial Performance and Growth Outlook - SanDisk management targeted a mid-to-high teen revenue growth model and an 80% gross margin floor through 2030, supported by 94 billion USD in signed customer contracts[3] - FactSet projected that Micron's earnings per share will grow 40% to 55% over the next year, while SanDisk's earnings per share are expected to grow 25% to 35%, both significantly outperforming the S&P 500's 15% growth rate[4]