SanDisk stock keeps plunging, so why are analysts raising price targets?

SanDisk stock NASDAQ:SNDK suffered another bruising session on Monday, dropping 12.6% to $1,673.97 as investors rushed out of memory and semiconductor stocks.

The decline continued after the close, with the stock slipping a further 2.4% by late trading.

The contrast is striking as SanDisk has fallen almost 29% from its late-June record and endured some of the market’s sharpest daily swings this month.

Yet Wall Street analysts have responded by lifting price targets rather than abandoning the stock.

Another rough session for SanDisk stock

Monday’s decline followed a volatile start to July.

SanDisk lost 29% during the month’s first four trading sessions, then recovered 18% over the following three days before selling off again.

Even after the latest pullback, the shares remain more than 600% higher in 2026.

The immediate pressure was not limited to SanDisk. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 4.8% on Monday, while Marvell, Intel and other chip stocks also fell sharply.

SanDisk was the weakest member of that group.

Memory stocks were already under pressure in Seoul after SK Hynix suffered its biggest one-day decline in nearly two decades.

The South Korean chipmaker fell more than 15% as investors unwound gains following its record Nasdaq debut. Its US-listed shares then dropped 9.3%.

Escalating US-Iran tensions added to the risk-off mood.

Oil prices surged after renewed fighting near the Strait of Hormuz, raising fresh inflation concerns and pushing investors away from highly valued technology shares.

Why Wall Street is not backing away

Analysts believe the sell-off reflects short-term positioning rather than a sudden deterioration in SanDisk’s business.

Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani raised his price target to $3,100 from $1,400 while maintaining an Outperform rating.

Daryanani said investors were “underappreciating the durability” of SanDisk’s earnings, free cash flow and pricing power as the NAND supply-demand imbalance persists through 2027.

Citigroup has maintained a $2,500 target, arguing that strong demand from AI data centres should continue supporting suppliers of NAND flash and hard-disk storage.

Bernstein analyst Mark Newman recently lifted his target to $3,000 from $1,700.

His bullish view rests partly on SanDisk’s new supply-contract model, which uses multiyear commitments and financial guarantees to give the company greater visibility over future sales and cash flow.

Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider has also raised his target to $2,200 from $1,200 while retaining a Buy rating.

Schneider expects a “very strong” fiscal fourth quarter and has placed his 2026 adjusted earnings estimate roughly 30% above Wall Street’s consensus, according to Investing.com.

The common thread is supply, as building additional NAND capacity requires years of investment, while demand for enterprise solid-state drives is rising as hyperscalers construct more AI data centres.

Investors will get their next major evidence on August 5, when SanDisk reports fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results.

The company will then hold an investor day on August 13, when management is expected to provide more details about its long-term contracts, capacity plans and earnings outlook.