SanDisk’s Revenue Nearly Triples on AI Memory Demand, But Stock Pulls Back from Record Highs

The disconnect between SanDisk’s explosive fundamentals and its stock price has rarely been starker. While the memory specialist posted a jaw-dropping 251% revenue surge in its third fiscal quarter, shares have shed roughly 10% over the past week, sliding to $1,657.43 from the June 3 record of $1,861. The pullback is largely a sector-wide phenomenon: a broader tech sell-off has clipped the wings of one of the market’s most spectacular gainers — up 500% since January.

That rally was built on an AI-driven demand transformation that is rewriting the NAND flash playbook. CEO David Goeckeler put it succinctly at the Mizuho Technology Conference: artificial intelligence may be “hungry for compute, but it lives on memory.” Enterprise-grade SSDs now account for 25% of SanDisk’s total revenue, a sevenfold increase year-on-year, and the company’s trailing twelve-month revenue run rate has rocketed from $7 billion in June 2025 to $20 billion in June 2026.

The third fiscal quarter of 2026 tells the story in hard numbers. Revenue hit $5.95 billion, up 251% from a year earlier, while non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $23.41 — well ahead of consensus expectations. Gross margin reached 78.4%, a level that underscores the pricing power SanDisk enjoys in a market where supply is tightening. Management expects that margin to expand by another 300 basis points in the current quarter, as the higher-margin enterprise business continues to grow.

Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter, guidance calls for revenue between $7.75 billion and $8.25 billion, with non-GAAP EPS ranging from $30 to $33. Crucially, SanDisk has already locked in more than a third of its projected fiscal 2027 revenue through long-term contracts that include both price floors and ceilings — a deliberate hedge against the notorious volatility of the NAND cycle. The company has also announced a $6 billion share buyback program and extended its joint venture with Kioxia through 2034, paying approximately $1.165 billion in access fees between 2026 and 2029.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying SANDISK?

Analysts have responded with a wave of price-target upgrades. Mizuho lifted its target to $2,200 with an “Outperform” rating, Bank of America to $2,100 with a “Buy,” and Cantor Fitzgerald to $2,900 — arguing that the “AI memory trade” is only in the middle of its cycle. Eighteen of 22 analysts covering SanDisk now recommend buying the stock or better. Additional structural support came from news that Google plans to order three million TPU units by 2028, a move that will drive sustained demand for high-performance flash storage.

Despite the fundamental fireworks, the stock’s annualized volatility of over 94% is a constant reminder that the memory business remains a wild ride. The current price is still more than a third above the 50-day moving average of roughly $1,243, a level that technical analysts see as key support. The long-term uptrend is intact, but the recent 10% decline — coming just days after a 55% surge in May — suggests that even the strongest earnings can’t fully insulate a stock from a sector-wide rotation.

The most frequently cited counterarguments are the forward price-to-earnings ratio of 57 and the inherently cyclical nature of NAND pricing. Whether supply discipline can persist through 2028 — as some analysts assume — will ultimately determine whether the current valuation can be sustained. For now, SanDisk is enjoying a rare alignment: booming AI-driven demand, locked-in revenue visibility, and a management team that is actively buying back shares. The market is digesting those positives alongside a healthy dose of caution.