Sandisk: A Rocket Ride & Some Questions

Now, I’ve seen a few things in my time observing the stock market – bubbles, crashes, the occasional company that genuinely does something useful – but Sandisk (SNDK 0.59%) has been… well, remarkable. Last year, it shot up a frankly preposterous 1,475% since spinning off from Western Digital. That’s not growth, that’s astrophysics. And it hasn’t stopped. As of February, it’s up another 131% year-to-date. One begins to suspect they’re not selling memory chips, but wishes.

Sandisk, for those unfamiliar, isn’t some overnight sensation. They’ve been around since 1988, quietly making the little bits and bobs that store our digital lives – flash drives, memory cards, that sort of thing. But the real money, it turns out, isn’t in keeping Aunt Mildred’s holiday photos safe. It’s in NAND flash and solid-state drives. These are the things that power everything from smartphones to the massive data centers that underpin, well, everything else. It’s a surprisingly dull name for something so utterly essential, isn’t it? NAND flash. Sounds like a minor ailment.

They’re one of the big five in this market, jostling for position with the likes of Micron, Samsung, and Seagate (depending on the particular niche). It’s a competitive world, of course, but Sandisk has a distinct advantage now: they’re a pure-play company. Being unburdened by the baggage of a larger conglomerate – like Western Digital – allows them to focus, to innovate, to, as the business types say, “synergize.” Though what that actually means remains a mystery to me.

The primary engine of this astonishing growth has been demand for solid-state drives for data centers. Apparently, we’re building these things at a furious rate, driven by the insatiable appetite of artificial intelligence. AI, it seems, needs a lot of memory. Who knew? Sandisk’s data center revenue jumped a staggering 64% last quarter. The numbers are so large they feel almost theoretical. Overall revenue was up 31% quarter-on-quarter and 61% year-on-year. And net income? A frankly ridiculous 617% increase. It’s enough to make one question the very foundations of economics.

Is the Rocket Still Burning?

The momentum has continued into 2026, fueled by a recent earnings report that sent analysts into a frenzy. There are even whispers that Sandisk will double its prices this year, due to the sheer demand. Doubling prices! In this economy! It’s almost unheard of. Of course, they’re not just raising prices arbitrarily. They’re projecting revenue of $4.4 to $4.8 billion for the current quarter – a 47% to 60% increase. Adjusted earnings are expected to reach $12 to $14 per share, up from $6.20 last quarter. And their gross margin is looking healthy, at 64.9% to 66.9%. The numbers practically glow.

This feels like a supercycle, a period of sustained, exceptional growth. Demand is outstripping supply, and that’s a good place to be. There are competitors, naturally, but Sandisk’s singular focus gives them a significant advantage. They’re not distracted by making hard drives for your uncle’s vintage computer collection. They’re all in on the future.

So, yes, even after a 131% year-to-date gain and a 1,500% surge over the past year, Sandisk still appears to have room to run. Its forward price-to-earnings ratio is a mere 14, which, in the current market, is practically a steal. It’s a bit like finding a perfectly good antique for the price of a cup of coffee. A very, very expensive cup of coffee, admittedly.

2026-02-16 02:02

Is the Rocket Still Burning?

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