This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK), the flash-memory maker riding the AI storage boom, secured a place in the S&P 100 effective before trading begins September 21. Shares jumped approximately 3.5% to $1,801.50 Tuesday, pushing the company’s market capitalization to roughly $283 billion as investors positioned for index-driven demand.
The promotion follows a blockbuster fiscal third quarter. Revenue nearly doubled sequentially to $5.95 billion, data-center sales rocketed 233% to $1.47 billion and GAAP gross margin expanded to 78.4% from 50.9% in the previous quarter. Data centers now generate approximately 24.7% of quarterly revenue, turning AI infrastructure spending into a major earnings engine.
The GuruFocus chart adds a needed reality check: Sandisk’s 51/100 GF Score combines powerful growth and financial strength with weak valuation and momentum readings. S&P 100 inclusion could trigger another wave of buying from index funds, but that mechanical demand does not strengthen the underlying business. Once those purchases fade, Sandisk must show that durable customer commitmentsnot a temporary memory shortagecan defend today’s extraordinary prices, margins and valuation.