Al Root
The performance of Sandisk stock since its spinoff from Western Digital has been nothing short of incredible.
Investors can be sure the performance will catch the attention of other management teams and their investment bankers.
Shares of the data storage company traded as high as $676.69 on Friday and were up 15% at about $620 in midday trading, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
The jump came after quarterly earnings. Late Thursday, Sandisk reported adjusted earnings per share of $6.20, smashing the Wall Street consensus estimate of $3.62. Then there was guidance. Sandisk projects revenue for the quarter ending March of about $4.6 billion. Analysts were projecting less than $3 billion.
Higher demand to store all of the text and images created by AI has lit a fire under the entire sector. Micron stock was up 54% year to date and 375% over the past 12 months through midday trading.
Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini raised his Sandisk price target for shares to $1,000 from $300 following the report. The average analyst price target rose nearly $200 to $628 after earnings.
Through midday trading, Sandisk shares were up an incredible 1,600% since being spun off from Western Digital in February 2025. Sandisk stock closed at $36 a share on Feb. 13.
It might be the best spinoff -- well, ever. That, of course, is hard to say. The spun-off Sandisk has only been around for the blink of an eye.
"It's probably not the single 'best' spinoff ever, but it sits comfortably in the top tier," says Jim Osman, founder of The Edge, which produces research on spinoffs.
"When spins work this well, it's usually because the asset was mispriced inside the parent for years, not because something magical happened on day one," he adds, calling Sandisk a textbook case of that mispricing. "The scale of the move looks extreme, but the mechanism isn't. Once the business was separated, investors could underwrite the cash flows, the cycle, and the capital return story without the conglomerate discount. That's how you get outsized returns."
Spinoffs have been working well for a while. Coming into Friday trading, GE Vernova stock was up fivefold since being spun from GE -- now GE Aerospace -- in April 2024. GE Aerospace shares have more than doubled since then as well.
Osman is looking at many spins coming in the months, including Honeywell, which is splitting its aerospace and automation businesses, Aptiv, which is splitting its safety software and sensors business from its electrical components business, and International Paper, which will separate its international operations.
A couple of others worth noting: FedEx is spinning off its freight division, and L3Harris Technologies will spin off its missile business in an IPO that the Defense Department said it will back with a $1 billion investment.
They may not be as profitable as Sandisk, but investors should check them out.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 30, 2026 12:49 ET (17:49 GMT)
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