Sandisk (SNDK) Stock: Climbs 11% as Nasdaq-100 Inclusion Triggers AI Storage Buying Spree

TLDRs;

• Sandisk surged after Nasdaq-100 inclusion triggered heavy passive fund buying flows.
• AI-driven storage demand continues to strengthen Sandisk’s growth outlook and investor sentiment.
• Index reshuffle reflects broader rotation from software toward AI infrastructure and hardware.
• Earnings and macro volatility may determine whether Sandisk’s rally can sustain momentum.

Sandisk surged sharply after confirmation that it will be added to the Nasdaq-100 index, replacing Atlassian in a reshuffle that has quickly become one of the most talked-about moves in recent market rebalancing activity. The stock climbed as much as 11% in trading, extending an already strong rally fueled by booming demand for AI-driven data storage infrastructure.

The inclusion takes effect ahead of the April 20 opening and is expected to force major index-tracking funds to accumulate shares, creating a wave of automatic buying pressure. More than 200 investment products, collectively managing over $600 billion, are tied to the Nasdaq-100 benchmark.

Massive Passive Fund Inflows

Index inclusion is not just symbolic, it has immediate mechanical effects. When a company joins the Nasdaq-100, exchange-traded funds and mutual funds that replicate the index must rebalance their portfolios, often buying shares in large volumes within a short window.

Sandisk Corporation, SNDK

For Sandisk, this means a significant influx of passive capital at a time when investors are already rotating aggressively into AI infrastructure plays. Market participants have increasingly favored hardware and storage companies as artificial intelligence workloads expand across cloud computing and data center ecosystems.

At the same time, software firms have faced renewed pressure as concerns grow over AI disruption to traditional business models. The reshuffle reflects this broader market shift away from software-heavy exposure and toward physical infrastructure supporting AI growth.

AI Storage Boom Accelerates

The rally in Sandisk shares is also being reinforced by strong fundamentals tied to artificial intelligence demand. The company has benefited from surging requirements for high-performance memory and storage systems used in AI training and inference workloads.

Earlier guidance from the company pointed to fiscal third-quarter revenue between $4.4 billion and $4.8 billion, with adjusted earnings per share projected between $12 and $14, both above market expectations. This strength has been attributed largely to rising demand from data center operators scaling AI workloads.

Analysts have responded by aggressively lifting price targets. Bernstein’s Mark Newman raised his target to $1,250, while Cantor Fitzgerald’s C.J. Muse increased his outlook to $1,000, highlighting expectations that tight supply conditions in NAND flash memory could persist for years.

Supply Constraints and Industry Pressure

Industry leaders are increasingly warning that AI expansion is putting unprecedented pressure on storage supply chains. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently noted that storage systems are likely to face significant strain as AI adoption accelerates across industries.

Similarly, executives from storage manufacturers have indicated that supply tightness may extend well into the next decade. Demand from hyperscale cloud providers and AI developers is outpacing production capacity, creating a structural imbalance in the semiconductor storage market.

This environment has also lifted sentiment across related companies, including Western Digital, Seagate Technology, and Micron Technology, which are all exposed to the same demand cycle.

Atlassian Exit Highlights Software Weakness

The flip side of Sandisk’s inclusion is the removal of Atlassian from the index. Software stocks have come under significant pressure in 2026, with broader software indices recording steep declines as investors reassess growth expectations in an AI-dominated market.

Market analysts have pointed to increasing concerns that AI tools may compress margins or disrupt traditional software pricing models. Atlassian’s exit reflects not only index mechanics but also shifting investor sentiment toward infrastructure-heavy AI beneficiaries.

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