New York, Jan 16, 2026, 16:23 (EST) — After-hours
- Sandisk shares climbed roughly 1% in late trading, staying close to their recent peaks
- This week, analysts at Benchmark, Barclays, and RBC either raised their price targets or kicked off new coverage.
- A director revealed intentions to offload a small block of shares; the upcoming earnings report is due Jan. 29
Sandisk Corp shares edged up roughly 1% to $413.58 in after-hours trading Friday, having fluctuated between $400.22 and $437.30 earlier in the session. Trading volume hit around 15.4 million shares.
The flash-memory maker has turned into a momentum favorite in early 2026 as investors wager that tighter NAND flash supply — the storage memory used in solid-state drives — will keep prices elevated this year. Retail traders have jumped in too, catapulting the stock about 65% higher so far in 2026 and roughly 730% over the last 12 months, following an almost tenfold surge since it reentered public markets last year.
Sandisk, carved out of Western Digital’s flash division, started regular-way trading on Nasdaq in February 2025 under the ticker SNDK.
Benchmark lifted its price target on Sandisk to $450 from $260 and maintained a buy rating, citing tighter capacity discipline among NAND manufacturers compared to previous up-cycles. The firm believes this could push margins “to record levels” by 2026. TipRanks
Barclays raised its price target on Sandisk to $385 from $220 but maintained an equal-weight rating. The bank said Sandisk remains “centric to the pillars of the AI ramp,” despite the stock’s recent strong gains. TipRanks
RBC Capital kicked off coverage with a sector perform rating and set a $400 price target. The firm expressed optimism about the NAND cycle and Sandisk’s long-term growth prospects linked to AI. Still, RBC noted the stock’s valuation already factors in almost $40 of earnings per share, suggesting a more balanced outlook moving forward.
Sandisk’s action coincided with chip stocks staying steady ahead of a long weekend. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index gained 1.1% during regular trading, while the broader S&P 500 ended mostly flat.
A separate filing revealed director Kimberly Alexy submitted a Form 144 notice to offload 1,737 shares, valued around $740,000. This form signals an intended sale of restricted or control stock under SEC Rule 144 but doesn’t ensure the sale will happen.
Yet the rally has pushed the stock into territory priced for a full clean-up cycle. NAND prices swing quickly, up or down, and even a slight sign that supply is easing—or that cloud spending stalls—could shake a trade fueled by scarcity and momentum.
Sandisk’s fiscal second-quarter earnings are set for Jan. 29, followed by a conference call that same afternoon after the market closes.
U.S. markets are closed Monday for a holiday, giving traders a pause before Tuesday’s session. All eyes will then shift to Jan. 29, when fresh clues are expected on memory pricing, supply discipline, and demand from AI data centers.
