SanDisk (SNDK) Stock Rises 12% to Lead S&P 500 as NAND Prices Surge

TLDR

• SanDisk (SNDK) surged 11.6% on Monday, topping the S&P 500 — the stock is up 148% year-to-date and 921% over the past year.
• Q2 2026 revenue hit $3 billion, up 31% sequentially, with EPS of $6.20 — more than double the Street estimate of $3.62.
• Q3 2026 guidance is strong: EPS of $12–$14 and revenue of $4.40–$4.80 billion.
• BNP Paribas rates SNDK “Overweight” with a $650 price target; analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy” with a mean target of $700.94.
• Nomura predicts SanDisk could double data-center storage chip prices in Q1 2026, with a NAND shortage expected to persist until 2028.

SanDisk (SNDK) led the S&P 500 on Monday with an 11.6% gain, pulling memory and storage stocks higher after a rough stretch. Micron (MU) rose 5% and Western Digital (WDC) climbed nearly 7% on the same day.

Sandisk Corporation, SNDK

Year-to-date, SNDK is up 148%. Over the past 12 months, the stock has gained an eye-watering 921%. The Monday bounce suggests investors viewed the recent dip as a chance to buy rather than a reason to worry.

The backdrop for that confidence is a strong set of recent numbers. In Q2 2026, SanDisk reported revenue of $3 billion, up 31% from the prior quarter. The Datacenter segment was the standout, growing 64% quarter-over-quarter to $440 million.

EPS for the quarter came in at $6.20 — well above the Wall Street estimate of $3.62, and more than five times the prior quarter’s figure.

Strong Guidance Ahead

For Q3 2026, SanDisk guided for EPS of $12–$14 and revenue between $4.40 and $4.80 billion. The midpoint of that revenue range would represent year-over-year growth of roughly 170%.

Operating cash flow for Q2 was $1 billion, up from just $95 million the quarter before. The company ended the period with $1.5 billion in cash against only $20 million in short-term debt.

Valuation still looks reasonable by sector standards. SNDK trades at a forward P/E of 13.24 and a forward P/CF of 15.13 — both below sector medians of 21.20 and 17.65.

The bull case rests on NAND pricing and structural supply tightness. BNP Paribas estimates NAND contract prices could jump 55% quarter-over-quarter in Q1, driven by suppliers shifting capacity toward enterprise storage products. The firm rates SNDK “Overweight” with a $650 price target, implying about 23% upside from current levels.

Nomura is even more bullish, predicting SanDisk could double data-center storage chip prices in Q1 2026. The bank sees the structural NAND shortage lasting until 2028.

Manufacturing and Product Edge

SanDisk recently extended its joint venture with Kioxia (KXIAY), committing $1.17 billion for additional manufacturing services spread across 2026 to 2029. This secures extra capacity without the full cost of building new fabs.

On the product side, SanDisk’s 256TB UltraQLC NVMe SSD — built on BiCS8 QLC NAND — nearly doubles the capacity of Micron’s 128TB offering. The BiCS8 architecture delivers 4.8 Gb/s I/O speeds and roughly 30% lower power consumption than Samsung’s conventional designs.

DRAM prices are also moving. BNP Paribas estimates DRAM average selling prices could advance 90% quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026, followed by a further 6% rise in Q2 as AI server demand deepens the supply-demand imbalance.

Of 21 analysts covering SNDK, 14 have a “Strong Buy,” one has a “Moderate Buy,” and six have a “Hold.” The mean price target sits at $700.94, implying around 32% upside from current levels.

Micron is scheduled to report Q2 FY26 earnings on March 18, with most analysts expecting another strong quarter on the back of rising DRAM and NAND prices.

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