MU, STX, WDC, SNDK Stocks Sink As Samsung Strike Ripples Rattle Red-Hot AI Memory Chip Trade

• The incredible rally in U.S. semiconductor and memory stocks appears to have hit the brakes.
• Shares of Seagate, Micron, SanDisk and Western Digital dropped 4.8% to 7% on Monday.
• At least two brokerages raised their price targets on Micron.

Shares of key memory chip and component companies fell on Monday as investors grew concerned about broader supply-chain and order disruptions stemming from an imminent workers’ strike at Samsung Electronics, among other triggers.

Seagate Technology led the declines, tumbling nearly 7%. Micron fell 6%, while SanDisk Corp. dropped 5.3% and Western Digital lost 4.8%. Monday’s selloff marked a third straight day of declines for Micron, Seagate, and Western Digital, underscoring a sharp downturn in a segment that had been growing at a record pace until recently.

Samsung Worker Strike Imminent

Investors are tracking updates from South Korea, where Samsung workers have vowed to go on an 18-day strike on Thursday after talks between the management and the union failed to deliver a consensus on the latter’s demand of higher pay. Samsung shares were down 2.4% in Seoul on Tuesday.

The nation’s government mediated the talks and continues to urge the two sides to reach an agreement before the strike date. The union’s demands center on Samsung’s performance-based bonus system. It is seeking performance bonuses equivalent to 15% of Samsung’s operating profit, the removal of bonus payout caps, and a formalized bonus structure, among other measures.

Investors appeared concerned that a prolonged disruption could destabilize the broader AI hardware supply chain, delay shipments, and slow data center buildouts — the latter being the key driver behind the recent surge in demand for memory chips.

NVDA China Update Drags

The selloff comes on the heels of the U.S.-China summit in Beijing, which concluded Friday. U.S. President Donald Trump said China “chose not to buy” Nvidia’s H200 chips despite U.S. approval, and prefers to develop its own semiconductor chips – a signal that Nvidia’s China sales may not resume immediately.

Memory chips and related components are typically purchased alongside Nvidia’s AI accelerators, and investors appear to be viewing China’s stance on Nvidia exports as a negative development for the broader memory sector.

The macro-driven nature of the trades was underscored by the fact that even fresh bullish analyst commentary on Micron failed to lift the stock. Citi raised its price target on MU stock to $840 from $425 and Melius Research raised the target to $1,100 from $700, with both maintaining ‘Buy’ ratings. The targets are 23% higher and 62% higher, respectively, from the Micron’s closing price on Monday.

Investors would now turn to Nvidia’s quarterly report scheduled for Wednesday. Analysts expect the chip-designer’s first-quarter revenue to rise 80% from the previous year to $79.23 billion, and adjusted profit to rise 120% to $1.78 per share, according to estimates from Koyfin.

Retail Says ‘Semiconductor Bubble Has Popped’

$MU Semis bubble has popped, expect a 30% haircut,” said a trader on Stocktwits. Another wrote: “$SNDK Take profit guys. Big guys are dumping, get out before below $1,000.

As of late Monday, retail sentiment was ‘bearish’ for STX, SNDK, and WDC, and ‘bullish’ for MU. So far this year, SanDisk stock has increased 462%, Seagate and Western Digital shares have gained around 167%, and Micron shares have gained 139%.

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