Key Highlights

  • S&P Dow Jones Indices added Sandisk, Dell, Palo Alto Networks and Arista to the S&P 100 effective Sept. 21, 2026.
  • Fiscal 2026 Revenue rose 175% to $20.25 billion, with datacenter revenue up 437%, per the Aug. 5 release.
  • Q1 fiscal 2027 guidance calls for $10.30 billion to $10.80 billion in revenue, implying slower sequential growth of about 18%.
  • Shares gained more than 600% in 2026 as of Sept. 19, pushing Sandisk's Market Value to about $260 billion, more than four times Nike's roughly $54 billion.

Sandisk's entry into the S&P 100 says more about how large the flash-memory maker has become than about any new wave of buying in its shares. Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) joined the Blue-Chip index before the open on Sept. 21, 2026, only about 19 months after it began trading as an independent company following its separation from Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in February 2025.

S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the change on Sept. 4 as part of its quarterly rebalance. Sandisk entered alongside Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) and Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET), while Nike (NYSE:NKE), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL), Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) and Honeywell Aerospace were removed. Sandisk's shares had gained more than 600% in 2026 as of Sept. 19, more than any other stock in the S&P 500, and its market value of about $260 billion was more than four times Nike's roughly $54 billion.

The rally has continued since then. The stock traded at about $1,887 after a 6.8% gain in the Sept. 22 session, compared with a 2025 closing price of $237.38. The precise cause of that single-day move was not clearly identifiable.

Why the Index Milestone Moves Less Money Than It Seems

Index additions draw attention because funds tracking the benchmark must buy the stock. In Sandisk's case, that forced Demand is limited. The company already joined the S&P 500 on Nov. 28, 2025, so the largest Index Funds already own it.

Estimates put the iShares S&P 100 fund's holdings at about $20 billion, compared with about $837 billion in the same firm's core S&P 500 fund. At a weight of roughly half a percent, the S&P 100 fund would need about $100 million of Sandisk stock, a small figure next to the more than $15 billion of shares that have recently changed hands on a typical day. In practical terms, the inclusion is a recognition of scale rather than a meaningful source of new demand. For investors, the more relevant question is whether the Earnings power that carried Sandisk into the top tier of U.S. companies can hold up once memory prices stop rising at their recent pace.

The Earnings Engine Behind the Rally

The fundamentals behind the move are laid out in Sandisk's Aug. 5 release for fiscal 2026, which ended July 3, 2026. Full-year revenue rose 175% to $20.25 billion, and GAAP Net Income reached $11.43 billion, or $73.76 per diluted share, compared with a loss a year earlier. Non-GAAP EPS was $70.88.

The fourth quarter showed the steepest acceleration. Revenue was $8.97 billion, up 51% sequentially and 372% year over year, and GAAP net income was $6.90 billion, or $43.97 per share, with non-GAAP EPS of $39.25. The company said roughly one-third of the sequential revenue growth came from higher volumes and two-thirds from higher pricing.

By end market, datacenter revenue was $2.98 billion in the quarter, up 103% from the prior quarter, and $5.15 billion for the year, up 437%. Edge revenue rose to $5.43 billion in the quarter and $12.16 billion for the year. The Edge business, which serves makers of PCs, smartphones and other devices, remains the largest contributor to sales. Consumer was the weak spot, with fourth-quarter revenue of $556 million, down 32% sequentially and 5% year over year.

For the fiscal first quarter of 2027, Sandisk guided to revenue of $10.30 billion to $10.80 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $44.00 to $46.00 and a non-GAAP gross Margin of 83.0% to 85.0%. The board also approved an additional $14 billion share repurchase program, lifting total remaining authorization to $15.5 billion. The company said it has signed five more New Business Model agreements since April, including three with new customers.

CEO David Goeckeler said in the release that Sandisk had "established datacenter as a key growth pillar" and expects to generate "growing and durable free cash flow."

AI Storage Demand and a Tight NAND Market

Sandisk makes NAND flash memory, the storage chips used in data centers, smartphones and PCs. The build-out of AI infrastructure has increased demand for high-capacity enterprise solid-state drives, and tight Supply has pushed prices up sharply, as the company's pricing-led revenue growth shows.

Sandisk competes with Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron (NASDAQ:MU) and Kioxia, its long-standing Manufacturing joint-venture partner in Japan. Industry pricing therefore depends on supply decisions made across this small group of producers as well as on demand from hyperscale cloud customers.

There are signs that growth is slowing from extraordinary levels. Sequential revenue growth was 97% in the fiscal third quarter and 51% in the fourth, and the first-quarter guidance implies roughly 18%. Non-GAAP gross margin rose from 78.4% to 84.6% between those quarters, and the new guidance suggests margins may be leveling off.

Risks Behind the Milestone

  • Cyclicality: Memory is historically boom-and-bust. Because recent earnings have been driven mostly by price increases, a turn in NAND pricing could hit profits quickly.
  • Concentrated earnings history: The stock trades at about 24 times earnings, but most of those earnings arrived in the last two quarters of rising prices.
  • Supply response: Competitors adding capacity could loosen the market over time.
  • Consumer softness: The decline in consumer revenue shows that not every end market is benefiting from the AI build-out.
  • Volatility: The 52-week range spans $93.53 to $2,354.39, so even after the latest gains the shares remain well below their peak.

Sandisk's Next Test: Fiscal First-Quarter Results

Sandisk's fiscal first-quarter 2027 results are the next key test. Based on the company's reporting pattern, they would typically arrive in early November, although a date has not been confirmed. Investors are likely to watch revenue against the $10.30 billion to $10.80 billion guidance, whether gross margin holds in the 83% to 85% range, the pace of Buybacks under the expanded $15.5 billion authorization and any further New Business Model agreements with datacenter customers.

Beyond the company itself, NAND contract pricing and Capital spending plans from rival memory makers will signal whether the current tight market can last.