Microsoft & Western Digital — Sandisk

Microsoft: Microsoft shares were down, contributing to the drag on tech-heavy indices.

Western Digital — Sandisk: Western Digital — Sandisk shares soared following positive sentiment in the memory chip sector.

Microsoft: Microsoft is a company where Manuvir Das previously held a senior leadership position, indicating his relevant experience in the tech industry.

Western Digital — Sandisk: Western Digital — Sandisk's stock has surged dramatically due to its leadership in solid-state drives (SSDs) and its critical role in the booming AI infrastructure market, leading to significant revenue and profit growth. The company is experiencing a supercycle in demand for its NAND flash memory chips.

Microsoft: Microsoft has signed long-term cloud contracts with IREN, indicating its investment in data center capacity for AI workloads.

Western Digital — Sandisk: Western Digital — Sandisk, a storage and memory peer, saw its stock jump following Micron Technology's strong results, benefiting from the overall positive sentiment in the chip market.