Despite the massive runs that Nvidia and Palantir Technologies have seen over the last couple of years, neither one of them can hold a candle to a California tech stock with a comparatively diminutive market capitalization of $61 billion. But Sandisk (SNDK 4.89%) was the best-performing stock in all of the S&P 500 last year, and it's keeping that momentum right now with a 74% gain so far in 2026.
With its expertise in data storage devices, edge computing, and a tantalizing opportunity to serve the fast-growing data center market, Sandisk may be the best single investment that you can make right now. Let's take a closer look at this company.
Image source: Getty Images.
What is Sandisk?
Sandisk has been around for a little while, but it's completely understandable if you've overlooked it because for a while it was absorbed by another company. Sandisk was acquired in 2016 by another data storage maker, Western Digital, giving Western Digital access to Sandisk's NAND flash technology.
But in 2023, Western Digital announced plans to spin off the flash business as a new public company under the Sandisk name. That spinoff was completed nearly a year ago, in February 2025, and includes both Sandisk's and Western Digital's flash products with an emphasis on solid-state drives (SSDs), memory cards and USB drives. Western Digital, meanwhile, focuses on hard disk drives (HDDs.)
NASDAQ: SNDK
Key Data Points
Sandisk has been a hot commodity ever since. Its storage can be used in a variety of products, including phones, laptops, cameras, and game systems. The most lucrative part of the company's business is its edge component, which supplies storage for smart devices that create data -- such as cars, drones, security cameras, motor vehicles, and factory equipment.
While the edge division is the major driver of revenue and profits today, it has a significant growth opportunity in the data center market, supplying storage systems to hyperscalers who are creating the computing capacity companies need for cloud computing and complex artificial intelligence programs.
The company's revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 (ended Oct. 3, 2025) totaled $2.3 billion, up 23% from a year ago and beating the company's guidance. Sandisk posted net income of $112 million, which was up 587% from the previous quarter but down from $211 million on a year-over-year basis. Diluted earnings per share came in at $0.75, down from $1.46 a year ago.
However, management indicated it has high expectations for the coming quarters, with investments in data center and AI infrastructure expected to top $1 trillion by 2030. "The demand for NAND storage products capable of processing large volumes of data quickly and efficiently is increasing dramatically, creating a strong tailwind for our high-capacity power-efficient SSDs enabled by our (eighth-generation 3D NAND flash memory) BiCS8 technology," CEO David Goeckeler said.
Goeckeler said the company is working with five major hyperscale customers, which will allow it to strengthen its data center business.
|
Revenue by Segment |
Q1 2026 |
Q4 2025 |
Quarter-Over-Quarter Change |
Q1 2025 |
Year-Over-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Data center (in millions) |
$269 |
$213 |
26% |
$300 |
-10% |
|
Edge (in millions) |
$1,387 |
$1,103 |
26% |
$1,069 |
30% |
|
Consumer (in millions) |
$652 |
$585 |
11% |
$514 |
27% |
|
Totals (in millions) |
$2,308 |
$1,901 |
21% |
$1,883 |
23% |
Data source: Sandisk
The outlook for Sandisk
While management pins AI infrastructure spending at $1 trillion by 2030, there are other estimates that are much more aggressive. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, for instance, has suggested data center infrastructure spending could reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion by the end of the decade.
Either way, Sandisk looks to get a healthy percentage of that spending. Revenue in its trailing 12 months has been $7.78 billion, but is projected to be nearly $14 billion in the next fiscal year -- an extraordinary increase. Meanwhile, the stock's forward price-to-earnings ratio of 30.8 and forward price-to-sales ratio of 5.6 are extremely reasonable for a stock that's growing as quickly as Sandisk.
Sandisk stock may not top the S&P 500 again this year, but the company's growth window is extremely strong and the market its valuation is more than reasonable. It may be the best single investment you can make today.
