By Kit Norton

Sandisk shares rose once more Tuesday, with the memory-chip company looking to join the likes of McDonald's, Verizon, and PepsiCo when it comes to market value.

Sandisk stock is currently on pace to surpass a $200 billion market capitalization for the first time since the company completed its spinoff from Western Digital on Feb. 24, 2025, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Sandisk advanced 13% to $1,413 on Tuesday, as investors continue to bet that the boom in construction of artificial-intelligence data centers will drive up memory demand. The stock needs to close at or above $1,350.53 to reach a $200 billion market value.

Since officially separating from Western Digital last year, Sandisk has surged 2,799%. So far in 2026, the stock has roared 494% higher.

On April 30, Sandisk posted strong fiscal third-quarter earnings with analysts appearing to grow even more confident in the flash memory supplier.

Bernstein analysts on Monday raised their Sandisk stock price target to $1,700 from $1,250, maintaining an Outperform rating on the shares. That price target represents 21% upside compared to current trading levels.

Sandisk is seeing accelerating sales growth because high-speed storage chips have become crucial in artificial-intelligence servers. Four companies -- Amazon.com, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms -- will spend over $700 billion on new AI data centers this year, and Sandisk stands to benefit from that demand.

New capacity isn't likely to come on line until the middle of next year, so the expectation is that inventories will remain tight, and prices high.

More broadly, memory and data storage stocks have been on a tear as the AI boom has triggered a surge in demand. Fellow memory stocks Micron Technology, Western Digital, and Seagate Technology have climbed 124%, 171%, and 179% so far this year.

Micron was also set to end Tuesday's trading session with a market capitalization above $700 billion for the first time.

Part of Micron stock's jump Tuesday was due to a report from IDC indicating the memory-chip market could break from its historical cyclical patterns with the current AI tailwinds supporting the sector.

This has been a concern among investors who, despite the huge moves in shares over the last year, still value memory names as the highly cyclical stocks they have been in the past.

Write to Kit Norton at kit.norton@barrons.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2026 15:15 ET (19:15 GMT)

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