Shares of SanDisk (SNDK) surged over 5% on Thursday, April 10, 2026, closing at $821.68, extending an already historic rally. The stock has skyrocketed 2,567% over the past 12 months, dramatically outperforming the S&P 500's 29% gain and peers like Micron Technology, which is up 473%.
The latest surge was fueled by bullish analyst upgrades, most notably from Bernstein's Mark Newman. Newman raised his price target to a street-high $1,250 from $1,000, implying roughly 60% upside from recent levels. He maintains an Outperform rating, arguing the market is "significantly undervaluing earnings power and sustainability of this cycle."
Underpinning this optimism is a powerful memory boom, driven primarily by artificial intelligence demand. Analysts point to soaring memory prices, with UBS estimating that DDR memory prices rose an average of 95% in Q1 2026 versus the prior quarter, while NAND flash memory prices—SanDisk's specialty—climbed 80%. This supply/demand imbalance is expected to persist, with Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse forecasting it could extend "into likely mid-CY28 earliest." Muse also raised his price target to $1,000 from $800, maintaining an Overweight rating.
Newman also outlined an ultra-bullish "blue-sky" scenario where the stock could reach $3,000, based on a higher valuation multiple applied to strong earnings estimates. Bernstein's base case forecasts SanDisk generating $144 per share in FY27 earnings, with a bull-case estimate of $224.
The rally reflects a broader Wall Street trend favoring "picks and shovels" companies supplying AI infrastructure. Analysts dismissed recent fears about Google's TurboQuant compression algorithm—which reduces AI model memory size—citing Jevons paradox, where cheaper, more efficient compute generally drives demand for more compute and thus more memory.
All eyes are now on SanDisk's fiscal Q3 2026 earnings report scheduled for April 30, which will provide critical insight into whether the current momentum in pricing and AI-driven demand can be sustained.
