Up Over 17% in the Past 5 Days, Should You Keep Buying Sandisk Stock in May 2026?

A sharp five-day rally has once again thrust Sandisk Corporation (SNDK) into the spotlight but this time, the move isn’t happening in isolation. The stock’s recent 17.32% surge has been fueled in part by a powerful read-through from Seagate Technology Holdings plc (STX), whose blowout Q3 earnings and bullish guidance have reinforced a critical narrative that AI-driven storage demand is accelerating.

Seagate Technology shares jumped 11.1% intraday on April 29 after strong results and a bullish outlook, with management raising its annual revenue growth target to at least 20% on surging cloud and AI demand. The company highlighted sustained hyperscaler investment, record future revenue visibility with high RPO, and nearline capacity largely booked through 2027, signaling continued momentum driven by AI infrastructure and inference-related storage needs.

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That backdrop has reignited momentum across the entire memory and storage complex, with Sandisk rebounding sharply after a brief sentiment wobble. With the stock already up hundreds of percent over the past year and expectations running high into earnings, is this latest breakout here to continue or a signal that much of the upside is already priced in?

About Sandisk Stock

Sandisk is a leading data storage and flash memory company headquartered in Milpitas, California. The company designs, develops, and manufactures a broad portfolio of NAND flash storage products, including solid-state drives (SSDs), memory cards, USB flash drives, and embedded storage solutions. The company’s market cap has expanded dramatically, with its current standing at $157.1 billion.

SNDK has delivered one of the most extraordinary stock performances in the market, driven by the AI-led memory supercycle, and the numbers highlight just how extreme the move has been.

The company became an independent, publicly traded firm again on Feb. 24, 2025, after completing its spin-off from Western Digital Corporation (WDC) and began trading on the Nasdaq.

On a 52-week basis, the stock has surged 3,130.2%, making it one of the top-performing names on Wall Street as investors assessed Sandisk’s growth prospects as a pure-play NAND flash and enterprise storage provider tied to the booming AI infrastructure market.

On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, the rally has remained just as aggressive, with returns of 361.29%, meaning the stock has effectively tripled in just a few months, far outpacing the broader market.

What’s notable is that this isn’t just a legacy run, it’s still accelerating. In recent sessions, SNDK has gained 17.44% over the past five days and hit a high of $1,103 on April 29, supported by strong read-through from peers like Seagate Technology, whose earnings reinforced the strength of AI-driven storage demand.

The stock is currently trading at a premium compared to the sector median, at 17.34 times sales (TTM).

Q2 Financials Exceeded Expectations

Sandisk’s second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings, released on Jan. 29, outpaced expectations. For the quarter ended Jan. 2, Sandisk reported revenue of just over $3 billion, representing a 61% year-over-year (YOY) increase, driven by broad-based demand across data center, edge, and consumer segments and far exceeding consensus forecasts.

As a breakdown, data center sales reached $440 million, up 76% YOY. The Edge segment generated about $1.7 billion, up 63% YOY, while consumer revenue of roughly $907 million grew 52% versus the prior period.

Moreover, on a non-GAAP basis, EPS came in at $6.20, far above the year-ago $1.23 and well above analysts’ expectations. Gross margins expanded dramatically to 51.1%, up roughly 18.6 percentage points versus the year-ago quarter, reflecting stronger pricing and a favorable mix toward higher-value SSD products.

Alongside the earnings beat, Sandisk issued very strong guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2026, projecting revenue of $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion and non-GAAP EPS in the $12.00 to $14.00 range, implying another substantial sequential acceleration in both top and bottom line growth if achieved.

Analysts remain optimistic, forecasting EPS of $47.19 for fiscal 2026, a substantial 2,551.1% YOY jump, followed by a further 140.5% rise to $113.50 in 2027. The consensus EPS estimate for the third quarter (about to be reported on April 30) stood at $13.66, indicating an upside of 2,376.7%.

What Do Analysts Expect for Sandisk Stock?

Recently, Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target on Sandisk to $1,400, while maintaining an “Overweight” rating, citing strong demand and expecting continued earnings beats.

Meanwhile, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Sandisk with an “Outperform” rating and set a $1,200 price target.

Overall, SNDK has a consensus “Strong Buy” rating. Of the 21 analysts covering the stock, 16 advise a “Strong Buy,” one suggests a “Moderate Buy,” and the remaining four analysts are on the sidelines, giving it a “Hold” rating.

SNDK has already surged past its average analyst price target of $964.61, while the Street-high target price of $1,800 suggests that the stock could rally as much as 64.6%.

On the date of publication, Subhasree Kar did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com