Electronic storage stocks are recovering from their recent losses in morning trading on Monday, as the Semiconductor Industry Association reported a substantial pick-up in chip sales, boosting buying interest in tech stocks. Notably, SanDisk (SNDK) is leading storage stocks higher following an upgrade.
The strength in the electronic storage sector is reflected by the 3.7 percent gain currently being shown by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. Despite the gain, the index remains rangebound as it moves further off of last week's two-week closing low.
The Semiconductor Industry Association reported that January chip sales came in at $22.5 billion, 47 percent higher compared to the same period last year. On a month-to-month basis, sales were up by 0.3 percent from December.
SanDisk is turning in one of the storage sector's best performances, with the data storage products maker currently posting a 8.8 percent gain. With the gain, shares of SanDisk have risen to a two-month intraday high and challenged January's twenty-month intraday high in earlier dealing.
The advance by SanDisk comes after an upgrade at Wedbush Morgan, which raised its rating on the stock to neutral from underperform. The broker cited upbeat supply and demand for the firm's core competency of flash memory, raising its price target on the stock to $32 from $25.
In other action within the sector, Imation Corp. (IMN) is seeing notable strength, rising by 7.1 percent. The advance saw the stock reach its best intraday price in nearly five months in earlier trading.
Seagate Technology (STX), Western Digital Corp. (WDC) and NetApp, Inc. (NTAP) are also on the rise but remain rangebound as they offset recent losses.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com