SanDisk stock jumps as analysts lift AI NAND targets

SanDisk shares rose Wednesday after several analysts raised price targets following stronger AI-driven demand for NAND memory and newly structured customer revenue commitments. The stock initially climbed about 4% before trimming gains to trade roughly 1.5% higher.

Bank of America raised its price target to $2,100 from $1,500 and maintained a Buy rating, noting favorable supply-and-demand dynamics in the NAND market. The bank noted SanDisk had already committed more than one-third of its expected fiscal 2027 revenue through customer agreements that include minimum revenue commitments, financial guarantees and prepayments.

Analysts expect limited new NAND industry supply before 2028 or 2029, a timing Bank of America said could support pricing and margins through at least the first half of 2027. Investors have focused more on memory suppliers as AI infrastructure spending increases demand for capacity in data centers and model training.

Cantor Fitzgerald raised its target to $2,900 from $1,800. CJ Muse described the AI memory opportunity as in the “mid-innings” and wrote that the sector is shifting to higher-performance, AI-oriented products. Mizuho’s Vijay Rakesh raised his target to $2,200, kept an Outperform rating and wrote that rising demand in 2027/28 could add further pressure to the market.

Morningstar’s Dave Sekera offered a contrasting view, assigning a fair value estimate of $1,000 per share and characterizing SanDisk as having “no economic moat.” He cautioned that memory is cyclical and warned supply could eventually catch up with demand, putting downward pressure on prices.

Analysts’ upgraded forecasts hinge on sustained AI-driven demand and on the effectiveness of SanDisk’s contractual protections. Bank of America highlighted that minimum commitments and customer prepayments provide greater revenue visibility if market demand weakens.

Investors will watch upcoming memory pricing trends, the performance of customer contracts and announcements of new wafer fabrication capacity to see whether current analyst optimism can be sustained.