What Sent Sandisk Shares Tumbling Nearly 20% Last Month

Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) shareholders have become accustomed to the stock price only going up, climbing over 490% so far in 2026. But the last month has looked different, with shares tumbling by roughly 20%.

Here's what sent shares lower over the last month, as well as what to expect from Sandisk moving forward.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Why did the stock price dip lower?

The chip sector suffered a major sell-off from July 24 to 28. According to FactSet data shared by CNBC, 20 of the world's most valuable semiconductor stocks lost $1.3 trillion in value. Nvidia, the usual poster child for chip stocks and the artificial intelligence (AI) trade, shed $238 billion in market value.

Some of that sell-off may be tied to concerns over AI infrastructure spending. The increased performance of new AI models from outside China at lower costs has led some to question whether the hundreds of billions of dollars some companies are spending is worth it and whether there may be a cool-down period for AI infrastructure spending.

There's also some worry that, while there's currently a shortage of memory and storage solutions, that bottleneck may be cleared up over the next few years. If that were the case, memory and storage companies, which have typically been known for boom-or-bust cycles, would no longer have AI to prop them up and would return to cyclical, less predictable business models.

Another potential reason for the sell-off is that investors may have simply been locking in profits. As of this writing, just over the last 12 months alone, Sandisk's stock price is up over 3,000%.

What's ahead?

Going back to that worry that supply will eventually catch up to demand and give companies like Sandisk less pricing power, that still appears to be a few years off. From analysts' forecasts to comments from Sandisk's competitor, Micron Technology, the imbalance of supply and demand for memory and storage solutions needed for AI should persist until at least 2028.

That remaining supply-and-demand imbalance can explain why, despite the massive stock price run-up over the last 12 months, analysts still see further upside ahead. Of 30 analysts tracked by CNN covering Sandisk, 77% consider the stock a buy, with a median one-year stock price target of $2,500. Investing in Sandisk stock on Aug. 5 at an opening price of $1,399.94, reaching $2,500 per share would mean:

• A $5,000 investment would grow to $8,925.
• A $10,000 investment would turn into $17,850.
• A $20,000 investment would be worth $35,700.

That median price target, however, doesn't guarantee anything. Rather, it can help frame the question of whether the risk is worth the reward.

Despite the short-term blip we recently saw with the $1.3 trillion sell-off, with supply and demand still being out of whack for memory and storage stocks, Sandisk should continue to benefit over the next two years. Looking past 2028, Sandisk is currently setting up more long-term deals, which can lower margins but offer more stable revenue generation, helping offset concerns about Sandisk falling back into future boom-or-bust cycles.

Jack Delaney has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.