TradingKey - On October 19, US memory stocks rallied across the board in pre-market trading. Following last week's continuous pullbacks, Micron Technology (MU), SanDisk (SNDK), Western Digital (WDC), and Seagate Technology (STX) all rose noticeably, supported by a broader recovery in tech stocks.

Micron pre-market stock price chart, Source: FUTUBULL

As of writing, Micron rose about 2.7%, SanDisk gained around 3.8%, and both Western Digital and Seagate climbed about 2%; SK Hynix's US ADR (SKHY) gained approximately 3.8%. Meanwhile, Nasdaq 100 Index futures climbed about 1.3%, with AI and semiconductor sectors that had previously faced heavy sell-offs staging a rebound.

Last Friday, Micron closed down 5.63%, SanDisk dropped 6.85%, Western Digital fell 6.86%, and Seagate dropped even further by 7.50%. Over the past week, mounting market concerns over AI data center financing risks, capital expenditure sustainability, and technical progress by Chinese memory maker CXMT led to concentrated profit-taking in memory stocks that had previously posted strong gains.

On the news front, market attention remains focused on AI server demand for DRAM, HBM, NAND, and high-capacity hard drives. Latest reports indicate that Nvidia has requested Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron to use TSMC's 3nm process to manufacture base dies for their next-generation custom HBM products, reflecting ongoing upgrades in next-generation AI memory products.

The memory sector will face another earnings catalyst this week, as Western Digital is set to report earnings on October 22. The market will focus closely on AI data center memory demand, HDD pricing and supply conditions, and the company's financial guidance for the coming quarters.

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