The S&P 500 was headed for its third straight week of declines on Friday morning, down about 0.5% shortly after the opening bell.
The war in Iran, about to enter its third week, continues to cast uncertainty over the stock market as oil prices continue to rise. Inflationary economic indicators, including the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), came out this week and were basically flat, failing to move the market one way or the other. The Commerce Department reported on Friday that economic growth (or Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) was much slower than expected in the final three months of 2025, while core inflation rose to start 2026.
Image source: Getty Images.
Tech stocks outperformed the market this week, as measured by the performance of the State Street Technology Select SPDR ETF, which tracks technology stocks within the S&P 500. The ETF was effectively flat this week, as of Friday afternoon.
Memory chip stocks continue to lead the way. Here are the top three tech stocks this week on the S&P 500.
1. Sandisk, up 27%
Sandisk (SNDK -0.15%) just continues to pour it on. This week, the leading manufacturer of NAND flash drives and solid-state memory drives for phones, gaming, and data centers surged another 27% higher to be the best-performing tech stock on the S&P 500.
Sandisk stock is now up 182% year to date and a staggering 1,230% over the past year.
NASDAQ: SNDK
Key Data Points
The catalyst this week may have been reports that NAND memory drives are basically sold out for 2026, so the tightening supply has driven higher demand and higher prices.
Even with its incredible growth, Sandisk remains a great option for investors as it's still trading at a decent valuation, 15 times forward earnings, amid this hypergrowth in this supercycle for memory stocks.
2. Ciena, up 15.5%
Ciena (CIEN -4.95%) was the second-best-performing tech stock this week, jumping about 15.5% as of Friday afternoon.
While its numbers aren't quite as good as Sandisk's, Ciena has been a stellar performer. Its stock price is up 45% year to date and 412% over the past year.
Ciena is a provider of adaptive networking systems for telecommunications and cloud computing companies. Its technology basically helps these large companies transport data across their networks.
NYSE: CIEN
Key Data Points
The catalyst for Ciena this week was a strong earnings report that easily exceeded analysts' estimates.
In its fiscal first quarter, which ended Jan. 31, Ciena saw a 33% jump in revenue while adjusted earnings rose 111% year over year. And with a record backlog of orders, Ciena raised its guidance for the full fiscal year. The company is anticipating 28% revenue growth at the midpoint of its range and an operating margin of 18.5% at the midpoint. That would be up from 11.2% at the end of last fiscal year.
Ciena stock remains a tad pricey, with a P/E ratio of 214 and a forward P/E of 77, so keep an eye on that.
3. Micron Technology, up 15%
Micron Technology (MU -0.99%) was the third-best performer among tech stocks this week, up about 15% as of Friday afternoon.
Micron is also a memory and storage stock, and it is soaring for the same reasons as Sandisk. However, while Micron does offer NAND flash drives, its major business is DRAM -- or dynamic random access memory -- chips. They are used for GPUs, data centers, mobile phones, and computers, and they are also in a supercycle of high demand and low supply.
NASDAQ: MU
Key Data Points
Micron also got some major analyst upgrades this week, as Wells Fargo raised its price target by $60 per share to $470 while Wedbush bumped it up from $320 to $500 per share as tight supply and high demand will drive prices higher.
In addition, Micron reports earnings next week, March 18, so there may be some investors buying in on expectations for another strong quarter.
Micron stock is up 49% year to date and 345% over the past 12 months. And it's trading at an even better valuation than Sandisk at 12 times forward earnings. It remains a strong buy.
