Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ: Sandisk (SNDK)) shares were up nearly 5% in Tuesday's premarket session as investors positioned themselves ahead of the company's second-quarter earnings report, scheduled for Wednesday. The broader market also lent a hand, with Nasdaq futures gaining 0.89% and S&P 500 futures rising 0.25%.

Earnings in Focus

The premarket gain comes as investors brace for the quarterly earnings report. Stocks often see heightened volatility before earnings as traders adjust expectations for financial results and forward guidance.

Wall Street expects Sandisk to report earnings of $33.38 per share, up sharply from 29 cents a year earlier. Revenue is projected to rise to $8.24 billion from $1.90 billion in the prior-year period, according to market data.

The stock carries a consensus Buy rating with an average analyst price forecast of $2,031.69. Recent analyst actions have been mixed. Susquehanna maintained a Positive rating while lowering its price forecast to $3,050 on July 23. Wells Fargo raised its price forecast to $1,620 while maintaining an Equal Weight rating on July 22. Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating and lifted its price forecast to $2,500 on July 1.

Sandisk, SK hynix Release First Open Standard for AI Memory Technology

Separately, on Monday, Sandisk and SK hynix Inc. (NASDAQ: SK hynix (SKHY)) released the first Open Compute Project (OCP) technical specification for High Bandwidth Flash (HBF), a memory technology designed for AI inference systems.

The open standard provides a common framework for integrating HBF into AI accelerators and data center infrastructure. It covers system interfaces, electrical requirements, reliability, and software support, with the goal of improving memory bandwidth, capacity, and power efficiency for AI workloads.

Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ: Alphabet (GOOG)) Google and Tenstorrent contributed to validating the specification during the standardization process. Sandisk and SK hynix said making the specification publicly available is intended to accelerate industry adoption and support an open ecosystem for next-generation AI memory.

Sandisk Technical Picture

Sandisk remains under pressure over the intermediate term. The stock is trading 8.8% below its 20-day simple moving average and 20.5% below its 50-day simple moving average.

However, the longer-term trend remains constructive. Shares are 1.3% above the 100-day moving average and nearly 60% above the 200-day moving average.

Momentum indicators remain cautious. The MACD sits below its signal line with a negative histogram, suggesting bullish momentum has weakened. A sustained move above the shorter-term moving averages would strengthen the technical outlook.

Key resistance stands near $1,600, while support is around $1,325.

Market Data and ETF Exposure

Market data assigns Sandisk a Momentum score of 99.91, reflecting strong relative price performance, while its Value score of 10.37 suggests the stock trades at a premium to many peers.

Sandisk also carries meaningful weightings in several exchange-traded funds, including the Global X NASDAQ 100 Covered Call ETF (NASDAQ: QYLD), Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF (NYSE: RPG), and First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF (NYSE: FPX). Fund flows into or out of these ETFs can influence demand for the stock.

Sandisk Price Action

Sandisk shares were up 4.67% at $1,348.22 during premarket trading on Tuesday, according to market data.