Down 48% From Its All-Time High, Sandisk Stock Is a Brilliant Buy Right Now

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Memory Stocks and the Rand: A Curveball for Local Investors

Sandisk's deep correction offers lessons for South African investors watching tech and cyclical plays amid rand volatility.

Silicon Valley memory chip makers like Sandisk have seen a brutal selloff, down nearly half from their peak, despite strong fundamentals tied to AI growth and persistent supply issues. They’re trading at just six times forward earnings, signaling value if this cycle holds. For South African investors, the key is translating this into rand terms. A strengthening dollar usually hurts rand-based returns, but right now, the USD/ZAR remains volatile and could drift higher if global rate hikes persist. This makes jumping into US tech-for-tech’s-sake risky. Instead, I’d look at JSE counters that benefit indirectly. Take Naspers and Prosus – their big US tech stakes mean rand moves influence returns sharply. On the domestic front, with Rand pressure ongoing, exporters like AngloGold Ashanti and Sasol provide natural currency hedges. Waiting to see a clearer USD/ZAR direction before committing aggressively to tech or cyclical exposure seems wise. This call might be wrong if the rand suddenly rallies, boosting returns for US-exposed stocks. this is just our opinion and not financial advice