Key insights
- The article highlights Sandisk (SNDK) as a potentially top-performing Nasdaq stock by 2026, driven by the growth in AI infrastructure. Strong Q3 2026 earnings, particularly in data center and edge computing segments, support this outlook. The author emphasizes the company's expertise in data storage and its strategic positioning within the expanding AI market, suggesting a bullish outlook for the stock.
Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have been powering the stock market over the last several years. Ever since OpenAI and Microsoft unveiled ChatGPT in November 2022, investors have been pouring money into AI stocks because they see the massive potential.
Some of my favorite investments right now lie more with AI infrastructure than betting on which company can build the best large language model or capture the most cloud computing space. AI infrastructure stocks are appealing to me because they're a bet on the global AI market, which is expected to jump from $390.9 billion in 2025 to $3.5 trillion by 2033 -- a compound annual growth rate of more than 30%.
While there are many great AI infrastructure stocks, there's one whose performance stands head and shoulders above the rest -- and it appears destined to be the best-performing stock in the Nasdaq this year.
Let's take a closer look at Sandisk (SNDK +1.97%).
Massive stock moves aren't new for Sandisk. The stock jumped nearly 560% in 2025, following its spin-off from Western Digital, completed in February 2025. (Interestingly, Western Digital bought Sandisk back in 2016, but then turned around less than a decade later and spun it off again.)
However, that deal worked out great for Sandisk and its investors. The newly structured company includes both Sandisk and Western Digital's flash products and has expertise in data storage devices, edge computing, and the data center market.
Earnings for the fiscal third quarter of 2026 (ending April 3) showed revenue of $5.95 billion, up 251% from a year ago. Net income of $3.61 billion was an improvement of 287% from a year ago, when Sandisk reported losing $1.93 billion. And earnings per share of $23.03 was a huge turnaround from the $13.33 per share the company lost in Q3 2025.
Data center revenue is the fastest-growing segment, up 645% year over year to $1.46 billion. Edge computing also showed strength, rising 295% to $3.66 billion in revenue for the quarter.
Management issued guidance for Q4 2026 revenue of $7.75 billion to $8.25 billion, which, at the midpoint, would be an improvement of 320% from a year ago.
Sandisk's year-to-date (YTD) performance is impressive. But what really gets my attention is the gain in stock price. At the time of this writing, Sandisk is up 526% YTD, by far outdistancing every other stock in the Nasdaq-100.
Nasdaq-100 Top Performers
Year-to-Date Gain
Sandisk
526.4%
Intel
240.1%
Seagate Technology
198.1%
Western Digital
192.7%
Micron Technology
168.5%
What's interesting to me is that all of these companies are fully involved in AI infrastructure and the global build-out -- Intel makes data center chips and AI accelerators, while Sandisk, Seagate, Western Digital, and Micron all work with storage capacity and memory.
AI infrastructure is arguably the biggest driver of the Nasdaq so far in 2026 -- and Sandisk looks to be the biggest winner of them all.