NEW YORK, Jan 21, 2026, 16:24 EST
- Sandisk jumped 10.7% to $501.59, hitting a fresh high of $506 during U.S. trading
- Citi raised its price target for Sandisk to $490, up from $280, citing strong demand from hyperscalers
- Investors are eyeing Sandisk’s Jan. 29 earnings as the next big checkpoint for the rally
Shares of Sandisk surged 10.7% to $501.59 Wednesday, hitting a record high of $506 along the way. The rally has thrust the flash-memory producer into the market’s spotlight.
The shift is driven by investors targeting a different slice of the AI surge: data storage. Citi analysts pointed to “solid hyperscaler demand supporting higher pricing,” which is boosting the outlook for NAND — flash memory widely used for data storage — and giving Sandisk a lift despite weaker PC and smartphone markets. 1
Citi boosted its price target on Sandisk to $490 from $280, maintaining a Buy rating, following updates to its 2026 outlook for tech hardware stocks. The bank highlighted strong hyperscaler data-center spending as a key driver behind rising storage demand and related infrastructure needs. 2
Sandisk pushed its winning streak to three days on Tuesday, climbing to an intraday peak of $457.37 before settling up 9.55% at $453.12, Insider Monkey reported. Bernstein boosted its price target sharply to $580 from $300. Benchmark also raised its target, to $450 from $260. Barclays and Wells Fargo lifted their targets as well but stuck with equal-weight ratings, according to the report. Sandisk is set to release fiscal second-quarter results after markets close on Jan. 29. 3
A separate note from Trefis put the rally down to a wider upswing in the NAND memory cycle driven by AI data-center buildouts, not just one company’s news. They pointed out Sandisk’s 52-week low was $27.89 and mentioned management had highlighted potential data-center demand growth at CES 2026—enough to counterbalance softness in PCs and smartphones. 4
Sandisk came back as an independent company after spinning off from Western Digital in February 2025, zeroing in on flash products like SSDs, memory cards, and USB drives. CEO David Goeckeler highlighted a surge in demand for NAND storage, calling it a “tailwind” for higher-capacity, more energy-efficient SSDs. He also noted the company is collaborating with five major hyperscale clients. For the fiscal first quarter of 2026, ending Oct. 3, 2025, Sandisk posted $2.3 billion in revenue, according to a Motley Fool article. 5
The rally wasn’t limited to one name. Western Digital jumped 8.5%, Seagate advanced 5.6%, and Micron added 6.6% on Wednesday. Nvidia also rose roughly 3%, reflecting growing investor interest in the wider storage-and-memory sector.
There’s a catch. Memory markets move in cycles, and pricing power can vanish quickly if supply rebounds or if demand from PCs and phones falls short of expectations, reducing the potential for data-center growth to pick up the slack.
Traders are focusing on whether NAND prices hold steady and if major cloud customers maintain the buying pace suggested by recent upgrades. Sandisk’s upcoming earnings report will offer the clearest glimpse so far into how much of the AI-driven storage demand is boosting margins and cash flow.
