SanDisk stock (NASDAQ: SNDK) fell about 3% on Tuesday, a sharp downshift for a stock that has turned into one of the market’s most crowded momentum trades in memory chips.
The slide looked less like a fundamentals break and more like classic profit-taking.
The move after a blistering run since the company began trading independently following its separation from Western Digital, traders used a softer session to lock in gains.
The pullback also landed amid persistent volatility across high-beta tech.
SanDisk stock: Profit-taking after a historic rally
By midday Tuesday, SanDisk stock was down $21.95, or 3.5%, at $604.61, according to MarketBeat’s trading recap, with more than 23.2 million shares changing hands.
That’s a notable move, but it comes after an extraordinary climb: MarketBeat lists a 52-week low of $27.89 and a 52-week high of $725.00, meaning the stock has at times traded more than 20 times above its low over the past year.
This is where “profit-taking” enters the story.
Profit-taking is simply investors selling after a big rally to “lock in” gains, even if nothing has changed about the company’s long-term outlook.
When a stock has run hard, the shareholder base tends to include more short-term traders, and that can amplify routine dips into headline-grabbing pullbacks.
Tuesday’s tape had some of those fingerprints.
The stock’s 50-day moving average sits around $395.85, and the 200-day moving average around $224.67, signs of how steep the trend has been, and why a single down session can look dramatic.
In other words, when a name is priced for perfection, it often doesn’t take a negative catalyst to knock it back; it just takes a reason to de-risk.
Also Read- SanDisk stock: how high could it realistically fly in 2026?
Strong fundamentals, but volatile sentiment
The selloff is harder to read as a deterioration in operating performance because SanDisk has been putting up strong numbers.
The company’s most recent quarterly report (released Jan. 29) showed earnings per share of $6.20, far above the analyst consensus estimate of $3.31, while revenue came in at $3.03 billion versus a $2.67 billion consensus estimate.
The revenue rose 61.2% year-on-year, underscoring why bulls have treated the company as a prime beneficiary of the current memory upcycle.
There’s also a structural narrative at work.
SanDisk’s own announcement marking its Nasdaq listing after completing its separation from Western Digital positioned the company as a “Flash and advanced memory technology innovator,” and explicitly pointed to “new opportunities that AI presents.”
That’s important context because AI infrastructure has made investors more sensitive to the supply chain behind data centers, including storage, helping lift sentiment across parts of the memory complex.
The analyst’s tone has remained broadly constructive even after the rally.
MarketBeat’s roundup said 14 analysts rate the stock a Buy, seven rate it Hold, and one rates it Sell, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy.”
It also cited a consensus price target of $542.85, and noted multiple firms raising targets after earnings, including Goldman Sachs (to $700), Cantor Fitzgerald (to $800), and Wedbush (to $740).
https://invezz.com/news/2026/02/17/sandisk-stock-plunges-3-profit-taking-sparks-sharp-pullback/
