SanDisk Corp.'s stock experienced a pre-market plunge of 6.07% on Friday, extending losses from the previous after-hours session. The flash-storage company had just reported fiscal third-quarter results that significantly exceeded Wall Street expectations across all key metrics, including a massive earnings and revenue beat alongside strong forward guidance.

The decline is attributed to a "sell-the-news" reaction, with investors locking in profits following an extraordinary stock rally. Over the past year, SanDisk's shares had surged approximately 3,300%, and the stock had gained about 360% year-to-date, driven by intense AI-driven demand for data storage. Analysts noted that even these blowout quarterly results and an upbeat forecast failed to provide the additional "wow factor" needed to sustain momentum from such elevated levels, triggering widespread profit-taking.

Market sentiment suggests the stellar financial performance was already fully priced into the stock after its monumental run. The company's transition to a new business model involving multi-year customer contracts, while aimed at creating more predictable revenue, also introduced some investor uncertainty regarding future pricing power during the ongoing AI storage super-cycle.