What's Going On With Sandisk Stock Thursday?

Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) stock fell about 4% Thursday as investors pulled back from technology and other growth stocks. The Nasdaq fell 0.66%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.35%. The Technology sector dropped about 0.8%.

Cramer Flags ‘Gigantic’ Call Buying

During CNBC’s “Mad Dash” on Thursday, Cramer said a series of “gigantic call buys” appeared Friday across Sandisk, Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE), Intel, CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), SK hynix Inc. (NASDAQ:SKHY) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD).

Cramer said the stocks have something notable in common. They are associated with the “Situational Awareness” investment theme linked to former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner.

“What do these all have in common? They’re the Leopold Situational Awareness names,” Cramer said. The commentator questioned whether the large trades came from Aschenbrenner or an investor attempting to replicate the strategy.

“A lot of people are speculating that he’s back,” Cramer said. However, he added that he believes someone may instead be imitating the approach.

Cramer described the transactions as “gigantic buys” involving FLEX options, which allow investors to customize certain contract terms.

Despite highlighting the unusual activity, Cramer warned investors against chasing the stocks during Thursday’s market weakness. “You don’t want to be in them today,” he said.

Technical Analysis

Despite Thursday’s decline, Sandisk remains in a strong longer-term uptrend. The stock trades 6.1% above its 20-day simple moving average of $1,596.93. It is also 65.1% above its 200-day SMA of $1,026.51.

The 20-day SMA remains above the 50-day SMA. Meanwhile, the 50-day SMA is above the 200-day SMA. Both signals support the broader bullish trend.

Momentum also remains constructive. The MACD is above its signal line, while the histogram is positive. However, Thursday’s sharp decline points to near-term selling pressure.

Resistance sits near $1,696.50. Support is around $1,416.50.

Analyst Outlook

Sandisk carries a Buy consensus rating, with an average price forecast of $2,190.50.

Mizuho maintained an Outperform rating on Aug. 25 but lowered its price forecast to $1,875. RBC Capital raised its forecast to $1,600 with a Sector Perform rating on Aug. 14. Wells Fargo raised its forecast to $1,550 while maintaining an Equal-Weight rating the same day.

ETF Exposure

Sandisk has significant weightings in several ETFs. The Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (NYSE:RPG) has a 7.07% weighting, while the First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF (NYSE:FPX) has a 6.95% weighting. The Invesco S&P Spin-Off ETF (NYSE:CSD) has a 6.15% weighting.

Large inflows or outflows from these funds can therefore add to buying or selling pressure on Sandisk shares.

Price Action

SNDK Stock Price Activity: Sandisk shares were down 3.98% at $1,693.93 at the time of publication Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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