TLDR
- SanDisk stock jumped 23.9% on Tuesday, closing at $327.69 with trading volume hitting 6.25 million shares
- The stock has surged over 800% since spinning off from Western Digital at $36 per share in February 2025
- Nvidia’s CES keynote discussing new memory storage platform for its Rubin chip likely triggered the rally
- SanDisk beat Q1 earnings expectations with EPS of $1.22 versus $0.58 estimate and revenue of $2.31 billion
- Major institutional investors including Vanguard ($1.97 billion) and State Street ($491 million) took new positions in Q3
SanDisk shares rocketed higher on Tuesday in one of the stock’s biggest single-day moves since its spinoff nearly a year ago. The data storage company closed at $327.69, up from the previous close of $274.08.
The stock opened with a gap up at $288.75 and kept climbing throughout the session. Trading volume swelled to 6.25 million shares as investors piled into the flash memory maker.
Tuesday marked SanDisk’s largest single-day percentage gain since February 18, 2025. The stock was the top performer in the S&P 500 for the day.
No single catalyst was immediately obvious for the jump. However, Morningstar analyst William Kerwin pointed to Nvidia’s Monday night keynote at the CES conference as the likely driver.
Nvidia discussed a new memory storage platform for its Rubin chip during the presentation. The technology would add more SSD storage to AI infrastructure to improve model speed.
“More SSD demand for these systems would imply even tighter supply than we have right now, further boosting SNDK’s pricing,” Kerwin said in emailed comments.
The rally continues SanDisk’s remarkable run since spinning off from Western Digital in February 2025. The stock debuted at $36 per share and has since surged over 800%.
AI demand for solid state drives and data storage hardware has been the primary fuel. SanDisk joined the S&P 500 during its rapid ascent.
Earnings Beat Expectations
SanDisk reported strong Q1 results on November 6th. The company posted earnings per share of $1.22, crushing analyst estimates of $0.58 by $0.64.
Revenue came in at $2.31 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. That represented 22.6% year-over-year growth.
Management issued Q2 2026 guidance of $3.00 to $3.40 in earnings per share. The company now has a market cap of $49.77 billion.
SanDisk’s valuation metrics show a P/E ratio of 1,061.34. The company maintains a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14 with a current ratio of 3.29.
Memory Pricing Power in Focus
Upcoming earnings from Korean memory makers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have investors watching the sector closely. Samsung reports preliminary fourth-quarter results on Thursday, with SK Hynix following on January 22nd.
Korea Economic Daily reported Monday that Samsung and SK Hynix are seeking to raise DRAM chip prices in the current quarter. While SanDisk doesn’t make DRAM, the report highlights memory suppliers’ pricing power.
Samsung stock rose 7.5% on Monday and another 0.6% on Tuesday. SK Hynix gained 2.8% Monday and 4.3% Tuesday.
“Rising memory semiconductor prices are a global issue and are expected to have some form of impact across the entire industry, not only on Samsung,” a Samsung spokesperson told Barron’s.
Analysts expect Samsung’s Q4 results to show 25.5% growth in DRAM prices from Q3 and 14.9% growth in flash memory prices. Taiwanese memory supplier Nanya Technology posted December revenue up 445% year-over-year on Tuesday.
Other data storage stocks also surged Tuesday. Western Digital, SanDisk’s former parent company, climbed 15%. Seagate Technology rose 11%.
Wall Street analysts maintain mixed views on SanDisk despite the rally. The consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $213.33, well below the current price.
Citigroup raised its price target from $150 to $280 on November 7th with a “buy” rating. Bank of America lifted its target from $270 to $300 on November 20th, also with a “buy” rating.
However, Weiss Ratings maintained a “sell” rating in late December. Kerwin of Morningstar holds the lone Sell-equivalent rating among analysts tracked by FactSet.
Institutional investors have been buying aggressively. Vanguard Group purchased a new $1.97 billion stake in Q3. State Street Corp bought $491 million worth of shares.
Arrowstreet Capital acquired a $297 million position. Bank of America and AQR Capital Management also took new stakes valued at $190 million and $163 million respectively.
Director Necip Sayiner sold 1,271 shares on December 3rd at $195.14 per share for $248,022.94. Following the sale, he owns 3,479 shares valued at $678,892.06.
Analysts polled by FactSet expect Samsung’s Q4 results to show 25.5% DRAM price growth and 14.9% flash memory price growth from the previous quarter.
