Sandisk Stock Is Up 160% in 2026. Is There Room Left for It to Run?

Sandisk (SNDK) leads the list of best-performing information technology stocks so far this year. It is up 160% despite the ongoing correction that has seen the stock fall 21% from its all-time highs in a matter of days. By now, most have figured out why memory stocks are going up. Supply is tight, and companies can raise prices without scaring off customers. This improves margins, driving profitability and improved valuation.

Things were looking good until an announcement from Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) caused memory stocks to crash. The search engine giant announced a new algorithm called TurboQuant. It reduces memory usage by six times, reducing the need for large amounts of DRAM and NAND memory in AI workloads. Markets were previously working on the assumption that massive demand for AI would proportionally result in a similar demand for memory. That may not be the case anymore, and that is why investors need to consider investing in stocks like Sandisk carefully, especially when they’ve run up over 1100% in a year!

About Sandisk Stock

Sandisk produces storage devices and solutions based on NAND flash technology, serving global clients. The company has benefitted from the supply constraints in memory products driven by increasing usage in AI workloads. It was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Milpitas, California.

Sandisk has given incredible returns over the past 12 months. The impressive returns of over 1000% have come on the back of unprecedented demand for memory, a bottleneck plaguing the AI industry at the moment. Even on the three-month chart, returns of 150% are incredible, so this wasn’t just a one-off thing. The returns were spread fairly evenly over the 12 months as the memory bottleneck slowly emerged.

While the developments around memory usage for AI workloads are relevant, one can also look at the stock’s valuation to see if buying now makes sense. The company is trading at a forward PE of 17.22x and a forward price-to-sales ratio of 6.82x. These valuations are reasonable considering the fact that the stock has gone up 11x in a relatively short time. But do they warrant a buy?

One reason why the valuation seems low is the consensus growth rate, even before considering Google’s bombshell revelation. While earnings were expected to grow by 1250% by June 2026, the growth rate was expected to go down to 117% by June 2027 and then negative for June 2028! Investors simply aren’t willing to pay higher prices now that memory usage itself is debatable. Yes, the stock kept going up despite this being known, but to expect that the same will happen over the next three or six months would not be wise for an intelligent investor.

Investors would also appreciate that the memory industry is extremely cyclical. The NAND market, which SNDK specializes in, is notorious for its boom-and-bust cycles. Add to this the fact that AI itself is a developing domain, and the landscape could change significantly in a matter of weeks; the stock becomes an extremely risky bet on AI and memory.

Sandisk Stock Surges on Earnings

Sandisk announced its Q2 2026 earnings on Jan 30. It blew away Wall Street estimates and reported strong guidance, causing the stock to continue surging upwards. The EPS came in at $6.2 vs. expectations of $3.62. Revenue was similarly strong at $3.03 billion compared to expectations of $2.69 billion. Analysts expected the company to report next quarter’s forecast of $2.93 billion in revenue. This, too, was blown away by the $4.6 billion guidance at the midpoint. 

Management pointed out at the earnings call that it was closely monitoring the supply situation and staying in touch with its customers. The fast-changing supply dynamics have forced the company to invest billions of dollars in capital expenditure. This investment becomes risky considering Google’s recent announcements, potentially causing a double blow once demand subsides. Despite these risks, analysts stay bullish, though that could change in the coming days.

What Are Analysts Saying About SNDK Stock?

On March 26, Wasmi Mohan of Bank of America Securities gave a “Buy” rating on SNDK with a target price of $900. 

As forecasted by the 15 Wall Street analysts, the highest price target for the stock is $1000, recently assigned on March 5 by Mark Newmen, representing the 47% increase from the current price. The average target price is $740.06, which offers relatively limited upside, suggesting a fairly valued stock in a negative sentiment environment.