Analyst: Sandisk a candidate for S&P 500 after surge
Despite having a rough day today as investors flee risky stocks, Sandisk has had a ridiculous run since it was spun off from its former parent, Western Digital, in February at a valuation of roughly $5 billion.
It’s now worth more than $30 billion, thanks to a more than 400% surge over the past three months alone.
The company makes a kind of chip known as NAND flash memory, which retains data when electrical power is turned off. That attribute made them a mainstay in battery-powered consumer products like phones and cameras.
But surging demand for data storage products related to the AI investment boom — which has supercharged shares of hard disk makers like Western Digital and Seagate Technology Holdings — has also pushed up prices for NAND flash chips, setting off the explosion in Sandisk shares.
In fact, TheStreet.com reports that analyst Melissa Roberts of brokerage firm Stephens is arguing in a note Tuesday that the price surge “makes Sandisk a natural candidate for promotion to the S&P 500 in the next round of index changes.” Inclusion in the index usually bumps a stock because index funds have to buy it.
