SanDisk is a flash-memory factory spun out from Western Digital. On Friday, it surged 11% in a single day, lifting the entire chain with it as storage chips climbed—Seagate and Micron also moved up along with it. Near the end of the session, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was aggressively pushed into positive territory. But in the same week, the Dow fell 1.7%, closing lower for the third consecutive week, its worst since March. With the broader market in such bad shape, storage shares instead got pulled higher more and more aggressively in the last hour before the close.
The trigger was the price-hike news reaching end customers. Reports say Apple accepted Samsung’s increased storage-chip pricing, even with customers that are usually the best at negotiating discounts agreeing to the new numbers. On the other side, Amphenol also issued a price-increase notice, with adjustments to take effect next month for a large batch of products. This story about storage price increases had been circulating for months—I initially thought it was just channel chatter. After Apple signaled its approval, though, it felt less like a short-term rumor.
On the same day, Bitcoin broke through $80,000, hitting a new high since June. Crypto-related stocks stirred up as well: Strategy jumped 16% in a day, essentially acting as the leverage that amplified the rally by borrowing money to accumulate Bitcoin.
The trigger was the price-hike news reaching end customers. Reports say Apple accepted Samsung’s increased storage-chip pricing, even with customers that are usually the best at negotiating discounts agreeing to the new numbers. On the other side, Amphenol also issued a price-increase notice, with adjustments to take effect next month for a large batch of products. This story about storage price increases had been circulating for months—I initially thought it was just channel chatter. After Apple signaled its approval, though, it felt less like a short-term rumor.
On the same day, Bitcoin broke through $80,000, hitting a new high since June. Crypto-related stocks stirred up as well: Strategy jumped 16% in a day, essentially acting as the leverage that amplified the rally by borrowing money to accumulate Bitcoin.