New York, Jan 16, 2026, 10:22 EST — Regular session
Sandisk Corp shares edged up 1.1% to $413.71 in morning trading on Friday, bouncing between $405.39 and $437.30 earlier in the session.
The stock has become a rapid-fire stand-in for the memory market, as investors bet on AI data centers squeezing supply of crucial chips. NAND, a flash memory type found in solid-state drives and smartphones, is the focal point here, since its prices tend to swing sharply when inventories run low.
Retail investors have driven much of the recent rally. Sandisk saw retail net inflows exceed $7.1 million in a single day this week — marking its largest one-day inflow ever — with the stock up roughly 65% in 2026 so far, according to Vanda Research data cited by Reuters. Interactive Brokers’ chief strategist Steve Sosnick described the surge as “more than simply a coincidence.” Reuters
Bernstein shook up the discussion this week, issuing a Street-high $580 price target and naming it a “top pick” for 2026. The firm cites “unprecedented NAND shortages and pricing,” crediting AI training and inference workloads for sparking a storage “supercycle.” Investing.com
Barclays lifted its price target to $385 from $220 but held onto an Equal Weight rating. Analyst Tom O’Malley said 2026 stock gains will hinge on the company’s “proximity to the artificial intelligence theme.” TipRanks
The broader group held firm on Friday. Micron jumped nearly 6.9%, Seagate added around 1.3%, but Western Digital edged down 1.2%.
Sandisk surged 7.6% on Thursday, yet the stock is drawing more aggressive two-way bets. Around 6.4% of its shares were sold short, Barron’s noted, signaling that any easing in supply constraints could quickly undercut the rally.
Sandisk is set to release its fiscal second-quarter earnings on Jan. 29, the company announced. Investors will focus on updates about NAND pricing, customer demand, and spending outlook following a rally that has surpassed many analyst estimates.
