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Matt Phillips1/6/26

Data storage stocks surge as Nvidia CEO calls the market “completely unserved”

Sandisk soared in early trading, leading the pack of data storage stocks that topped the market last year — including Western Digital, Micron, and Seagate Technology Holdings — sharply higher Tuesday.

Despite little news on Sandisk itself, its shares were trading at a furious rate. Shortly before 10 a.m. ET, roughly 4.1 million had changed hands, more than 3x as much as normal for that stage of the session.

Besides benefiting from a broad upswing in AI-related trades on Tuesday, memory chip and data storage makers have soared, alongside prices for their products, in an rally that started late last year.

Closely watched comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the Consumer Electronics Show underscored the strong outlook for demand from the AI industry for data storage.

“This market will likely be the largest storage market in the world, basically holding the working memory of the world’s AIs,” he told analysts at the trade show Monday, who called storage “a completely unserved market today.”

That demand seems set to continue to push prices up in early 2026, according to Morgan Stanley analysts.

In a note published Tuesday, tech hardware analysts at the bank wrote that prices for DRAM memory, which Micron makes, are expected to increase 40% to 70% quarter over quarter in Q1.

Similarly prices for NAND flash memory — a crucial form of memory for long-term storage and the heart of Sandisk’s products — are expected to increase 30% to 35% in Q1 2026, Morgan Stanley analysts said, citing industry estimates.

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Tasha Matsumoto

S&P 500 closes lower after notching new intraday high

The Nasdaq 100 eked out a small gain, while the Russell 2000 fell.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 17: Mascot Staley Da Bear of the Chicago Bears runs onto the field prior to an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on November 17, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.

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Matt Phillips4h

Blackstone and Invitation Homes get hammered as Trump calls for ban on Wall Street buying single-family homes

Shares of Blackstone and Invitation Homes dove early Wednesday afternoon after President Trump called on Congress to pass a law banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.

Blackstone and Invitation Homes are some of the largest owners of private homes in the country. Homebuilders including PulteGroup, DR Horton, and Lennar also stumbled on the news.

Nationwide, institutional investors own a small share — less than 1%, according to the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute — of US single family homes, which has led some to argue that they have had a relatively small impact on housing prices. But their concentration in particular markets, such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Charlotte, has prompted others, like center-left think tank Third Way, to argue that their purchases can have an effect on specific markets, neighborhoods, or certain types of houses.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

Blackstone and Invitation Homes are some of the largest owners of private homes in the country. Homebuilders including PulteGroup, DR Horton, and Lennar also stumbled on the news.

Nationwide, institutional investors own a small share — less than 1%, according to the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute — of US single family homes, which has led some to argue that they have had a relatively small impact on housing prices. But their concentration in particular markets, such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and Charlotte, has prompted others, like center-left think tank Third Way, to argue that their purchases can have an effect on specific markets, neighborhoods, or certain types of houses.

markets

Matt Phillips4h

Intel surges amid CES announcements, Mobileye news

Intel surged to a new 52-week high in early trading, though it gave back a large chunk of the early gains by the afternoon. There were few headlines that could clearly explain the run-up of gains, which peaked around 11%.

One potential driver of the move might be optimism surrounding the company’s unveiling of a new line of processors at the Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday.

Another possible candidate was the reflected glow of a deal announcement from Mobileye, the autonomous driving company that Intel holds a significant stake in.

Mobileye initially rose after buying Mentee — an artificial intelligence robotics company — for $900 million in cash and stock in a deal that’s expected to close this quarter.

(Intel spun off Mobileye in 2022, but retained a controlling stake in the company.)

Finally, news that Qualcomm is perhaps looking to use contractors outside Taiwan for its next-generation chip — though it’s reportedly speaking to Korea’s Samsung for that, not Intel — may be raising hopes that chipmakers looking to diversify away from Taiwan could become customers for Intel’s troubled contract chipmaking division.

But again, there’s no clear reason to point to for its outperformance on Wednesday.

Mobileye Acquires Startup Mentee Robotics for $900 Million

Mobileye Acquires Startup Mentee Robotics for $900 Million

Mobileye initially rose after buying Mentee — an artificial intelligence robotics company — for $900 million in cash and stock in a deal that’s expected to close this quarter.

(Intel spun off Mobileye in 2022, but retained a controlling stake in the company.)

Finally, news that Qualcomm is perhaps looking to use contractors outside Taiwan for its next-generation chip — though it’s reportedly speaking to Korea’s Samsung for that, not Intel — may be raising hopes that chipmakers looking to diversify away from Taiwan could become customers for Intel’s troubled contract chipmaking division.

But again, there’s no clear reason to point to for its outperformance on Wednesday.

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