Sandisk Corporation (SNDK) just got one of the most coveted stamps of approval in the stock market. Nasdaq Inc. (NDAQ) recently announced that Sandisk would join the Nasdaq-100 Index ($IUXX). And as of Monday, April 20, it replaced Atlassian Corp. (TEAM) before the market opened.
It is a major milestone for the newly independent NAND flash storage company, which completed its spinoff from Western Digital (WDC) about a year ago.
For investors watching from the sidelines, the question now is simple. Is this a buying opportunity, or is the easy money already made?
www.barchart.com
Getting added to the Nasdaq-100 is not just a symbolic win.
The index tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq Stock Market. More than 200 investment products track it, including the widely held Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which together represent over $600 billion in global assets under management.
It means that all passive funds tracking the Nasdaq index will have to buy SNDK stock to mirror the new benchmark, which creates an index-inclusion rally.
The index addition also boosts a stock’s visibility and liquidity over the long run, which tends to lower a company’s cost of capital.
Atlassian, the collaboration software company, will be removed from the index, which will put pressure on the tech stock.
The Nasdaq-100 is effectively swapping out a software-as-a-service (SaaS) name for a semiconductor and data storage play, a sign of where institutional money sees the biggest growth runway right now.
Sandisk has been making a deliberate push into the data center market, which its CEO, David Goeckeler, has called the single biggest structural shift in the NAND flash industry. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in March, Goeckeler said data center customers would become the largest buyers of NAND in 2026, a role that had previously belonged to smartphone and PC makers.
Sandisk reported sequential data center revenue growth of 64% in its most recent quarter, and management expects that pace to keep accelerating throughout the year.
The company’s flagship BiCS8 NAND technology has been central to that momentum. The node uses wafer-bonding technology that keeps the CMOS circuitry pristine, resulting in faster interfaces, improved power efficiency, and better performance on QLC drives.
Sandisk also has a 2-terabit die, which halves the number of chips needed to build a high-capacity enterprise solid-state drive. At the Cantor Global Technology Conference in March, Goeckeler was direct about the company’s ambition. “We have this world-class NAND node that gives you really strong performance right when the market for data center is exploding,” he said. “It positions us extremely well.”
Beyond the near-term data center tailwind, Sandisk is working on something potentially more significant. The company has been developing what it calls High Bandwidth Flash, or HBF, a new form of NAND technology specifically designed for artificial intelligence inference workloads. The idea is to bring NAND’s density advantage into AI architectures that currently rely on HBM memory from companies like SK Hynix.
Separately, management is working to sign multi-year supply agreements with large data center customers to reduce the quarter-to-quarter pricing volatility that has historically plagued the NAND industry.
Goeckeler told attendees at the Bernstein Insights conference in February that the goal is a “sustainable and attractive financial model” across the market cycle, not just maximizing price in an up cycle.
One deal has already been signed, with several more in negotiation, according to CFO Luis Visoso.
Sandisk enters the Nasdaq-100 with real business momentum behind it. Data center demand is growing rapidly, and the technology roadmap is strong. Moreover, the company is trying to structurally change its business model to reduce the boom-and-bust cycle investors have historically feared.
The Nasdaq-100 inclusion adds fuel to that story by bringing in institutional buyers who previously had no choice but to sit on the sidelines. That said, NAND pricing cycles are notoriously difficult to call, and much of the optimism around HBF and long-term supply agreements is still in early stages.
Analysts tracking SNDK stock forecast it to increase revenue from $7.35 billion in fiscal 2025 to $30.7 billion in fiscal 2027. In this period, adjusted earnings per share are forecast to expand from $2.99 to $114.38.
Out of the 21 analysts covering Sandisk stock, 16 recommend “Strong Buy,” one recommends “Moderate Buy,” and four recommend “Hold.” The average SNDK stock price target is $916.47, above the current price of about $903.
Investors comfortable with semiconductor volatility have a compelling case here. Those looking for a smoother ride may want to wait and see how the supply agreement negotiations play out before committing.
www.barchart.com
On the date of publication, Aditya Raghunath did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
