Sandisk becomes S&P's top performing stock this century. How, and why?

Sandisk is now the most successful stock in the S&P 500 this century, blowing past every other name.

Since going public in February 2025, the digital storage company has exploded over 1,600%. And after its latest forecast, Wall Street is scrambling.

On Friday, Sandisk jumped 25% before cooling, after telling investors that third-quarter earnings will land between $12 and $14 a share. Wall Street had guessed it would be $4.95. The gap was huge.

Sandisk stock is up 160% this year alone, and trading well over $600. Several analysts updated their ratings within hours.

Raymond James analyst Melissa Fairbanks said the numbers are being driven by “demand and pricing implications of an unprecedented datacenter/AI cycle.” She pushed her rating up to “outperform” and set a target of $725.

Analysts scramble as AI demand boosts Sandisk

Susquehanna’s Mehdi Hosseini called the forecast “a defining moment” and didn’t hold back. He pushed his target all the way from $300 to $1,000, the highest on Wall Street. He said the rise comes after what he called the “nuclear winter” of 2022–2023. What stood out most was how fast the rebound came.

Bank of America’s Wamsi Mohan also raised his target, from $390 to $850. He pointed to strong demand for NAND flash memory, which Sandisk makes. That type of memory is essential for datacenters running artificial intelligence.

Wamsi kept his buy rating in place.

But not everyone in memory storage is getting the same love. Western Digital also beat expectations and gave stronger guidance, but the stock fell 7.3% on the day. Micron Technology climbed 4.5% early, then gave most of it back. Seagate rose briefly, then dropped 4%. The rally is not lifting the whole group.

Data from Bloomberg shows 2026 net earnings forecasts for Sandisk rose 11% in a week, and revenue projections climbed 20%. Those numbers are big. And they explain why analysts are racing to keep up.

Sandisk still looks cheaper than other AI names

Even with this rally, Sandisk stock trades at 15x expected earnings. That’s down from 23x earlier this month. It’s also cheaper than the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, and even Nvidia, which trades at about 25x.

That pricing is catching attention. Some investors say it looks like a bargain, even after everything. The company’s earnings per share are 10 times what it reported a year ago. That number shocked everyone. And it’s still climbing.

Wedbush’s Matt Bryson put it bluntly. He wrote, “We believe if anything, our estimates likely still underestimate the magnitude (length and ultimate peak) of the current upcycle, leaving room for our numbers (and ultimately Sandisk’s stock) to move higher.”

He raised his price target from $600 to $740 and kept an “outperform” rating.

For years, memory stocks traded cheap because demand came from phones and laptops. But now, the buyers are AI datacenters, not consumers. Those facilities need nonstop memory, and lots of it. That demand is keeping Sandisk hot.

Get seen where it counts. Advertise in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.