SanDisk stock soars 426% in 2026, outpacing Nvidia as AI memory demand spikes.

SanDisk's stock surged about 426% year-to-date in 2026, becoming the best performer in the S&P 500, driven by rising demand for AI-related memory storage. This contrasts with Nvidia, which, despite leading AI accelerators and strong revenue growth, saw a modest 6.4% gain in 2026 so far. Investors are favoring SanDisk as a pure play on the AI-driven storage shortage, reflecting a rotation within the AI sector from compute to memory. Nvidia's upcoming earnings report on May 28 remains a key event to watch for further market moves.