New York, Jan 21, 2026, 08:34 ET — Premarket
- Sandisk shares gained roughly 2% in premarket trading, building on Tuesday’s close to 10% surge
- Citi raised its price target and earnings forecasts, citing stronger flash-memory prices driven by AI data center demand
- Investors will turn their attention to Sandisk’s fiscal second-quarter earnings, set for Jan. 29
Shares of Sandisk Corporation kept climbing Wednesday, rising roughly 2% in premarket action as momentum continued to favor the data-storage firm. The stock last checked in at $462.46, up from Tuesday’s close of $453.12. 1
This shift is significant as it has sustained inflows into storage and memory stocks, despite turbulence hitting other parts of the tech sector. Investors see flash pricing and data-center orders as a clearer signal of AI-driven demand, compared to some of the larger, more crowded trades.
Citi’s Monday outlook on tech hardware highlighted “solid hyperscaler demand” as a key driver behind higher memory prices, boosting its Sandisk target price from $280 to $490, according to Investopedia. Analyst Asiya Merchant noted Sandisk “sounded the most constructive” on NAND fundamentals among the companies Citi met at CES. The bank sees potential upside from data centers, including Nvidia’s Vera Rubin platform, which could offset weaker PC and smartphone demand.
Hyperscalers, the largest cloud operators, manage enormous data centers. NAND, a flash memory found in solid-state drives, sees prices swing quickly when supply shrinks, affecting profits for both manufacturers and their clients.
Sandisk spun off as an independent company in 2025 when Western Digital distributed most of its stake, forming a separate publicly traded flash-memory firm, according to a registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2
The tape remains shadowed by that history. Now the market’s grappling with whether this rally has legs or if prices have already gotten ahead of actual demand and fundamentals.
Sandisk is gearing up for its next big announcement: the company will release fiscal second-quarter results Thursday, Jan. 29, followed by a conference call at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time. 3
Traders are keen to catch any shift in NAND pricing and data-center demand, while also sizing up whether strength is widespread or tied to just a handful of big clients. Guidance on margins and supply discipline could prove just as crucial as the main figures.
Memory cycles tend to shift when producers boost supply or when end-demand weakens, and gains made in extended hours often evaporate once the market opens. Following the stock’s strong start to the year, even a slight drop in pricing expectations could weigh on sentiment.
Right now, all eyes are on whether Sandisk can maintain its premarket gains once trading begins, and what the company reveals on Jan. 29 regarding pricing, demand, and the staying power of the flash recovery.
