It's just like the good old days.
Memory-card supplier Sandisk and Lumentum were rallying on Wednesday as part of a broad artificial-intelligence revival, bolstering hopes that they could finally be about to end their dismal recent run.
Shares of Sandisk jumped 8.2% ahead of the opening bell. They were down 46% over the past month through Tuesday's close, dragged down by worries about slowing AI spending.
It's the S&P 500's second-worst performer over that period behind Lumentum, which has declined 47%. That explains why the pair are leading today's comeback. Lumentum jumped 10%.
Memory-chip maker Micron rose 6.9%. Hard-drive manufacturers Seagate and Western Digital advanced 7.9% and 6.8%, respectively. All three stocks are down by more than 20% over the past month.
Sandisk, Micron, Seagate, and Western Digital were among the market's biggest winners over the first half of 2026, racking up triple-digit gains as the AI data-center buildout triggered a surge in memory demand.
But they've struggled lately due to worries that spending on AI could slow, with last week's blue wave raising the possibility that newly-elected governors in states like Texas will pause data-center development.
CoreWeave's solid third-quarter results were the catalyst for Wednesday's rally. The cloud provider's strong guidance for the current quarter could help ease fears about an AI spending slowdown.
Optical networking companies Coherent, Lumentum, and Marvell, glassmaker Corning, and chip designer Advanced Micro Devices were among the other AI stocks rising ahead of the opening bell.
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