Sandisk Stock Was the Biggest Winner in the First Half of 2026. What's Next for the Second Half?

Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) is the best-performing S&P 500 stock so far in 2026, and it isn't particularly close. It's up around 800% so far in 2026, easily outperforming second-place Micron Technology, which is up "only" about 300%. That's a simply incredible performance for just six months.

Still, after a run like that, it's reasonable to wonder if there is further upside ahead or if Sandisk has delivered everything that it's going to deliver in 2026.

Although it may seem surprising, I think there is plenty of upside left in Sandisk's stock in the second half of 2026, especially with the major shortages going on in its industry. While it won't return another 800% from here, it could still reward investors quite well.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

The memory chip shortage is getting worse

Sandisk makes NAND memory, which is primarily utilized for long-term data storage. Most of the NAND memory you'll encounter in a data center comes in the form of solid-state drives (SSDs), which are used for long-term information storage. Sandisk and its peers aren't used to the massive demand being generated by data centers, and this cohort doesn't have the production capacity necessary to meet demand. As a result, prices for memory chips are soaring, and Sandisk is benefiting from it.

Everyone in the industry is scrambling to stand up more capacity, but it may be a losing battle. Micron, another memory chip maker, believes that "tight conditions" will persist beyond 2027, which bodes well for the demand curve Sandisk is seeing.

Compounding this is a rapidly expanding data center build-out plan; Nvidia believes global data center spending could reach $3 trillion to $4 trillion annually by 2030. That creates an environment where Sandisk and its peers can succeed for a long time, making the stock an intriguing buy.

Wall Street analysts project major growth ahead for Sandisk, with fiscal fourth-quarter growth of 336% (ended in June) and 122% growth for fiscal 2027. As long as the stock is reasonably priced, this means Sandisk stock could easily go higher from here, and fortunately for investors, it is. I'm using fiscal 2027 estimates to value Sandisk's stock, since it just started:

SNDK PE Ratio (Forward 1y) data by YCharts

At 11 times fiscal 2027 earnings, Sandisk stock isn't very expensive, and could easily double from here and still be reasonably valued. As a result, I think Sandisk could head higher from today's levels, and makes for a great buy now.

Keithen Drury has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.