SNDK, WDC, MU: US Memory Stocks Rebound Overnight After Anthropic-Driven Selloff; Traders Eye Samsung Results Next Week

Chip stocks fell on Thursday after a report said that Anthropic was in talks with Samsung to design and manufacture custom AI chips.

• Retail traders are eyeing memory stocks after a pullback from record highs this week.
• They say Samsung’s third-quarter report, due Tuesday, and SK Hynix’s Nasdaq listing on Friday would have a major bearing on the memory trade.
• The retail sentiment for SNDK and DRAM was ‘extremely bullish’ late Sunday, the highest among the group of memory stocks.

U.S. memory stocks were rallying overnight late Sunday after sharp declines in the past week as traders set positions ahead of the upcoming quarterly report of the world’s largest memory chipmaker, Samsung Electronics.

Western Digital Corp shares rose 3.3%, while SanDisk Corp, Micron, and Seagate Technology stocks were up by more than 2% and the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) increased 0.8%.

SNDK stock declined by over 14% on Thursday, while WDC and MU shed 10% and 5.5%, respectively, in a panic selloff after a report said AI startup Anthropic was in talks to contract Samsung to develop a custom AI chip.

The Information reported, citing people familiar with the plan, that Anthropic was considering developing in-house chips to address supply shortages and high costs. While the technology and use case for the chip are still under discussion, a potential partnership with Samsung would be seen as a setback for the U.S. chipmakers with which Anthropic already has ties.

Late last month, Apple increased prices of Macs, iPads, the Apple TV, the HomePod, and the Vision Pro headset globally, citing higher prices for the memory chips that go into them, and indicated that price hikes for its remaining gadgets, including the iPhone, are likely.

The move was the strongest signal of the crunch tech companies are facing from memory shortages and high prices. Meanwhile, Apple itself is reportedly looking to secure memory components from Chinese company ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and seeking clearance from the U.S. government.

Samsung Reports Q3 Results On Tuesday

The rally in U.S. memory stocks comes as investors position ahead of Tuesday’s quarterly earnings report from Samsung, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, while also snapping up shares after last week’s pullback.

The South Korean giant is expected to post a preliminary operating profit of 84.3 trillion won ($55.1 billion) for the June quarter, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. 

That would represent an 18-fold increase from a year earlier and would exceed the company’s total profit for all of 2025. Revenue is projected to rise 127% to a record 169 trillion won.

As U.S. memory chip stocks wrapped up their best six-month stretch on record, the rally hit turbulence in June amid concerns over intensifying competition from Samsung and SK Hynix, as well as stretched valuations.

That has heightened the importance of Samsung’s earnings report, which many see as a key catalyst for global chip stocks and as the latest read on high-bandwidth memory demand and pricing.

Retail View On Memory Stocks

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment was ‘extremely bullish’ for SNDK and DRAM, ‘bullish’ for MU, and ‘bearish’ for STX and WDC. “DRAM The demand for AI memory didn't go away because we had a bad week,” a trader wrote. 

Meanwhile, traders are watching SK Hynix’s upcoming Nasdaq listing, scheduled for July 10.

“SK Hynix's order book opens tomorrow as the company prepares for its Nasdaq debut on Friday, 7/10. It's trading at a *very* large discount to $MU. Expect major volatility and perhaps significant selling in $MU as institutions look to free up funds to go from the most expensive memory company to the HBM leader that's trading at a huge discount to Micron,” a trader wrote.

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