MILPITAS, Calif. — SanDisk Corp. shares surged more than 4% midday Wednesday, climbing toward $947 as investors piled into the memory chip maker amid unrelenting demand for high-speed storage to power artificial intelligence systems.

The stock, trading under NASDAQ: **SNDK**, hit an intraday high of $948.06 before pulling back slightly. By 12:19 p.m. EDT on April 22, shares stood at $946.53, up $43.04 or 4.76% from the previous close. Volume topped 7.6 million shares, well above average but below the frenzied levels seen during recent record runs.

The rally extends a stunning year for the company, which has transformed from a Western Digital spinoff into one of Wall Street’s hottest AI plays. Since completing its separation from Western Digital in February 2025, SanDisk shares have skyrocketed more than 1,200%, turning a once-dormant ticker into a market darling. Year-to-date gains in 2026 alone exceed 290%, dwarfing the S&P 500’s modest advance.

Analysts point to a perfect storm: exploding AI workloads that require vast amounts of NAND flash memory, tight industry supply, and SanDisk’s aggressive push into enterprise solid-state drives. The company’s data center segment, a key beneficiary, posted 64% sequential revenue growth in its most recent quarter, with hyperscale customers lining up for next-generation solutions.

“SanDisk is at the epicenter of the AI infrastructure buildout,” said one analyst who raised the price target to $975 from $675 earlier this week. Multiple firms have hiked forecasts in recent days, with some bull cases reaching as high as $2,600 per share in optimistic scenarios.

SanDisk reported strong fiscal first-quarter 2026 results in early November 2025, with revenue of $2.31 billion, up 21% sequentially and beating guidance. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $1.22. Datacenter revenue jumped 26% from the prior period, and the company highlighted progress qualifying products with major hyperscalers.

By the second quarter, momentum accelerated further. Revenue reportedly surged around 61% year-over-year in some updates, driven by enterprise SSD demand. BiCS8 technology, SanDisk’s advanced 3D NAND, accounted for 15% of bits shipped and is on track to dominate production by year-end.

The company’s fabs are running at full capacity as customers scramble to secure supply through 2027. Industry watchers say NAND undersupply could persist well beyond 2026, with data centers poised to overtake mobile devices as the largest NAND consumer for the first time this year.

SanDisk also joined the elite Nasdaq-100 Index on April 20, a milestone that typically draws index fund buying and boosts visibility. The inclusion followed a blistering run that saw the stock hit an all-time high near $965 earlier in April. While some “sell the news” profit-taking emerged around the event, the broader AI tailwind has kept buyers engaged.

On the product front, SanDisk unveiled a next-generation portable SSD lineup in February 2026, featuring faster speeds tailored for AI-generated content and demanding creative workflows. The three-tier portfolio includes Extreme, Extreme PRO and standard models with capacities up to 8TB, underscoring the company’s consumer roots even as enterprise sales dominate growth.

Founded decades ago as a pioneer in flash memory cards, SanDisk now operates as an independent entity focused on NAND technology after the 2025 spinoff. Western Digital, which had acquired the original SanDisk in 2016, sold down its stake through a $3.1 billion secondary offering earlier this year to reduce debt, further freeing SanDisk to chart its own course.

Despite the euphoria, risks remain. The stock carries a high valuation with a negative GAAP P/E due to recent accounting factors, and memory chip cycles have historically been volatile. Some observers flagged potential short-term pullbacks after the Nasdaq-100 addition and ahead of fiscal third-quarter earnings scheduled for April 30.

Yet bulls remain undeterred. Morgan Stanley recently highlighted memory stocks like SanDisk and Micron as the “real AI winners,” citing sustained pricing strength and capacity constraints. Bank of America lifted its price target to $1,080, citing robust NAND demand. Evercore ISI initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a lofty bull-case scenario.

“AI isn’t a one-year story,” one portfolio manager said. “Every hyperscaler and enterprise building out training and inference clusters needs faster, denser storage. SanDisk’s technology roadmap positions it to capture a bigger slice of that multi-billion-dollar opportunity.”

Investors have taken notice. The stock’s 52-week range spans from a low near $29 to the recent peak above $965, reflecting both its post-spinoff rebirth and the intensity of the current rally. Market capitalization now hovers around $139 billion, making SanDisk a heavyweight in the semiconductor space.

Company executives have expressed optimism about long-term trends. In recent commentary, they noted engagement with five major hyperscale customers and plans to expand qualifications throughout 2026. Gross margins have held strong near 51%, providing breathing room even as the company invests in capacity.

For everyday investors, SanDisk’s story blends nostalgia with cutting-edge relevance. The brand that powered early digital cameras and MP3 players now fuels the data centers training tomorrow’s AI models. Portable SSDs continue to serve creators editing massive 8K and AI-enhanced files on the go.

As trading continued Wednesday, some market participants wondered whether the surge could extend further or if rotation out of overheated tech names might cap gains. Options activity has shown mixed sentiment, with some hedging against near-term volatility.

SanDisk is set to report third-quarter results on April 30, an event that could provide fresh catalysts or trigger profit-taking depending on guidance. Analysts will watch closely for updates on BiCS8 ramp-up, hyperscaler wins and any signals about 2027 supply agreements.

For now, the narrative remains one of explosive growth in an AI-driven world. From a spinoff afterthought to a stock that has delivered thousands of percent returns for early believers, SanDisk exemplifies how legacy tech can reinvent itself amid paradigm shifts.

Whether the rally sustains or consolidates, one thing is clear: memory is no longer a commodity business when artificial intelligence devours data at unprecedented scale. SanDisk, once known for thumb drives and memory cards, is writing a new chapter as a critical enabler of the AI revolution.

A common narrative suggests that the housing crisis is a young person’s problem, with Gen Z and millennials bearing the brunt of high prices.

However, new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center reveals a much more disturbing reality: the collapse of homeownership is happening at every age level.

“The profile has shifted from the young couple starting a life to the established professional who has been squeezed out of the market for a decade,” Douglas Elliman’s Jaclyn Bild told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Today’s first-time buyer is juggling way more than someone buying their first home 20 years ago. They’re coming in with kids, fully formed careers, sometimes aging parents, and zero interest in a temporary starter home. They want something that supports the life they already have. The challenge is that pricing hasn’t adjusted to reality.”

“Many first-time buyers are coming in later, with stronger incomes and more established careers, but they are also navigating a much higher cost basis. In practice, the biggest hurdle is the total cost of ownership. Buyers are underwriting price, of course, but they also heavily consider monthly payments, taxes, and long-term carrying costs,” Douglas Elliman’s Katzen Team founder Frances Katzen also told Digital. “That is why the buyer profile has evolved to reflect a more deliberate, financially prepared buyer who approaches the process with a long-term mindset.”

$150K OVER ASKING ISN’T ENOUGH: N.J. REAL ESTATE AGENT WARNS ‘AVERAGE PERSON’ IS BEING PRICED OUT

The core issue isn’t just high mortgage rates, which are currently near historical norms, but a massive divergence between what Americans take home and what homes actually cost. Data from the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center, cited by Fortune, shows that in 2003, the median home price was 4.3 times household income. In 2017, it was 5.1 times, but today it has risen to nearly 6 times.

A single-family home in a prime location in Houston, Texas, is seen with construction workers outside. (Getty Images)

Additionally, between 2000 and 2022, homeownership rates dropped between 8% and 10% across every age cohort. For the “first-timer” group earning between $50,000 and $75,000 annually, only 25% owned homes in 2022, compared to 70% to 80% of households making $175,000 and up.

“Buyers are making incredibly conscious trade-offs. Some are choosing to stay in place longer and maximize their current space rather than move into a higher price point. Others are adjusting expectations around size, location or condition to be able to remain within budget. There’s also a timing component. Some buyers are waiting for more clarity, while others are moving forward, hoping to prioritize long-term stability. The broader dynamic is that moving up now requires a much more significant financial step, so every decision is more intentional and more strategic,” Katzen explained.

“People feel genuinely boxed in, they are navigating by simply not moving because the math doesn’t work,” Bild noted. “We are seeing the starter home turn into the forever home by necessity… Many are staying put and building new homes on the lot they already own, others are building an addition for extra space or converting a garage into another bedroom to make it work — that puts additional pressure on supply. We are also seeing a record number of buyers getting family support to bridge the financial gap. We are even seeing some families rethinking having more kids because they don’t have the space.”

Co-director of the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center Ed Pinto warned Fortune that the current trajectory is creating a permanent class of renters among those who are not already affluent.

“When purchasing power declines, fewer people buy homes at 28 — but also fewer purchase at 38 or 48. The result is a broad-based drop in homeownership. The less-rich are getting squeezed out, and that trend is uniform across all age groups,” Pinto said.

“As the pool of first-time buyers gets smaller across the board, the marginal families get excluded across the board,” he continued. “As long as prices are flat and incomes are rising 3% a year, affordability is improving. But the gap is still so large that if nothing else changes, the lower-and middle-income families stuck on the sidelines could get locked out for years to come.”

The AEI research also identified a severe supply shortage as part of the housing affordability culprit, noting that the “bottleneck” isn’t a lack of interest in buying, but a lack of permitted land for entry-level housing.

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Katzen agreed that limited supply significantly adds to America’s housing strain.

“One of the most consistent challenges is supply, particularly in the types of homes buyers are looking for at the entry and move-up levels. Limited inventory is reducing optionality and keeps pricing elevated. In many cases, the issue is not inherently demand, but rather, its availability,” she said. “When the right product comes to market, it tends to move quickly because there are multiple buyers looking for the same type of home. From a broader perspective, increasing supply meaningfully would have the greatest impact on improving market accessibility.”

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The pre-pack sale of First-Rate Maintenance means it will continue trading under its own name

A maintenance firm covering properties on Tyneside has been rescued out of administration.

First-Rate Maintenance, which began life in Newcastle in early 2020 before moving to North Shields three years later, has been sold via pre-pack administration to Scottish-based operator Dima Group. The move saves 28 jobs at the handyman services business which offers general maintenance, decorating, roofing, joinery, plumbing, landscaping, tiling and more.

Administrators from FRP Advisory said the Percy Park Rugby Club-based business had built a reputation for delivering services to housing associations, local authorities, landlords and national retailers. But last year the business began to experience cashflow pressures.

Joint administrators Steven Ross and Shaun Hudson said efforts had been made to stabilise the business but that the challenges faced meant directors had to call in professional insolvency advisors who arranged the sale.

First-Rate was originally launched with the support of its sister company and Newcastle student property specialist, Seekers – formerly known as Walton Robinson. The business touted itself as an expert in odd jobs and property maintenance across Tyneside and Newcastle, working with homeowners, landlords and managing agents on anything from minor repairs to full refurbishments.

Having been appointed earlier this month, the administrators completed a pre-pack sale to Dima Group FM, trading as First-Rate Maintenance Limited, an unconnected party. They said the deal allows First-Rate to continue trading under its current name and that it will keep existing contracts and services in place for clients.

Steven Ross, restructuring advisory partner at FRP and joint administrator of First-Rate Maintenance Limited, said: “This transaction delivers a positive outcome for all stakeholders. The sale preserves employment, maintains service continuity for customers and secures the future of a well‑regarded regional business, while achieving the best possible result for creditors.”

Andrew Gilmour of Dima Group added: “As the new operator, First-Rate Maintenance is committed to building on its established platform supporting its workforce, customers and partners as the business enters its next phase.”

Dunfermline-based Dima Group was launched in October 2018, originally as a security company, from a kitchen table with the aid of just a laptop and a phone. Two years later the firm opened its first office but then faced the Covid-19 pandemic within a matter of weeks.

The business has since relocated four times and now has a head offices on the city’s Enterprise Way, where it employs nearly 100 staff. It has since diversified into other services including provision of hospitality agency staff and chefs.

Dima works across Scotland and even provides services for every Dunfermline Athletic FC home game – including staff on the turnstiles, terraces, and hospitality areas that cater for fans.

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He said the “sheer amount of money” that may have been fraudulently claimed, estimated at £44m, “serves only to underline further that the known levels of fraud in the scheme, as our committee warned earlier in the year, must be being significantly underestimated”.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz ground nearly to a halt Wednesday as Iran fired on commercial vessels and seized others, escalating tensions with the United States and sending world oil prices sharply higher amid fears of a prolonged disruption to one-fifth of global crude supplies.

By midday Wednesday, April 22, commercial shipping in the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman was at a virtual standstill, with reports of Iranian gunboats opening fire and Revolutionary Guard forces seizing at least two vessels. Video footage showed tankers and cargo ships making abrupt U-turns to avoid the zone, while maritime tracking data confirmed only minimal transits in recent days.

The latest flare-up comes as a fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran nears expiration and follows a confusing series of openings and closures of the strait over the past week. Iran briefly declared the waterway open on April 17 before reimposing tight controls days later in response to the ongoing U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, imposed April 13. On April 18-20, traffic slowed dramatically after shots were fired and vessels were turned back.

Oil markets reacted swiftly to the renewed uncertainty. Brent crude, the global benchmark, climbed toward the $100-per-barrel mark, with intraday trading reflecting heightened risk premiums. West Texas Intermediate futures also rose, though the Brent-WTI spread remained wide due to regional shipping disruptions. Analysts noted prices had already spiked significantly since the U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran began Feb. 28, with Brent briefly exceeding $110 earlier in the crisis before easing somewhat on hopes of diplomacy.

The Strait of Hormuz has long been the world’s most critical energy chokepoint. Before the 2026 crisis, roughly 20-21 million barrels of oil and petroleum products passed through its waters daily, accounting for about one-fifth of global seaborne oil trade and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas. Major exporters including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar rely heavily on the route, which is only about 21 miles wide at its narrowest point.

Iran’s actions this week included reports of its forces firing on three ships and seizing two others accused of violating restrictions. The Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday it stopped vessels attempting unauthorized crossings and directed them toward Iranian waters. U.S. officials maintained their blockade of Iranian ports, with the Navy forcing several ships to turn around in recent days. A ceasefire extension pushed by President Donald Trump appeared under strain, with both sides accusing the other of violations.

Shipping firms have grown increasingly cautious. War-risk insurance premiums have soared, and many operators now demand clarifications on mine threats and safe passage before committing vessels. Satellite imagery and tracking services showed hundreds of ships idling outside the strait or rerouting via longer, costlier paths around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. Industry executives warned that even a full reopening could take months to restore normal flows due to backlog, insurance issues and damaged confidence.

The crisis traces back to Feb. 28, when U.S. and Israeli strikes targeted Iranian sites, leading to the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iran’s subsequent declaration of the strait as closed or heavily restricted. Traffic plummeted by up to 70-80% in the following weeks, with attacks on vessels reported and some ships abandoned or damaged. At least a dozen incidents involving merchant ships have occurred since early March, resulting in crew casualties.

Diplomacy has produced mixed results. Talks in Islamabad aimed at extending the ceasefire stalled over key issues including sanctions relief and nuclear concerns. Iran has used the strait as leverage, alternating between threats of full closure and conditional openings while demanding the U.S. lift its port blockade. Trump has publicly stated that Iran wants the waterway open to resume oil revenue, but U.S. forces continue enforcing restrictions on Iranian-linked shipping.

Global energy markets have felt the strain. Oil prices surged in March as the disruption deepened, with Brent climbing well above $100 and the Brent-WTI spread widening dramatically due to higher shipping costs for Middle East crude. While some relief came from strategic reserve releases and alternative routing, analysts warn that prolonged restrictions could exhaust inventories and force rationing or deeper economic pain. Global supply losses from Iranian outages and reduced Gulf exports have already mounted.

Major consuming nations are scrambling for alternatives. China, a top buyer of Iranian oil, has explored workarounds, while European and Asian refiners face higher costs for rerouted cargoes. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have accelerated plans for pipelines and infrastructure that could bypass the strait entirely, a shift that could permanently alter regional export patterns even if tensions ease.

For the shipping industry, the Hormuz crisis has been devastating. Thousands of seafarers remain at risk, with some vessels going “dark” by disabling tracking signals to slip through quietly. Freight rates for alternative routes have spiked, and insurers review coverage every 48 hours. Port operators in the Gulf report reduced activity, while downstream effects ripple into higher fuel costs for airlines, trucking and manufacturing worldwide.

Environmental and humanitarian concerns have also surfaced. Attacks on tankers raise the specter of oil spills in sensitive waters, and delays in LNG and fertilizer shipments could affect global food and energy security. The International Maritime Organization and maritime security centers continue issuing warnings to vessels to avoid the area where possible.

U.S. Central Command has reported forcing multiple ships to reverse course near the blockade zone, emphasizing freedom of navigation while targeting Iranian economic lifelines. Iran, meanwhile, portrays its actions as defensive responses to aggression, vowing swift retaliation if the U.S. does not back down.

Market participants remain on edge ahead of the ceasefire deadline. Some analysts predict further volatility, with oil potentially testing new highs if traffic stays frozen into May. Others see potential for de-escalation if backchannel talks progress, though trust is low after repeated reversals on strait access.

The 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis has underscored the vulnerability of global energy supplies to geopolitical flashpoints. What began as part of broader conflict with Iran has evolved into a high-stakes contest over one of the planet’s most vital maritime arteries. For now, with gunboats active and vessels turning away, the world watches anxiously as oil prices climb and supply chains strain.

Longer term, the episode may accelerate diversification efforts. Pipeline expansions, floating storage strategies and investment in non-Gulf sources could reduce reliance on the strait. Yet for the immediate future, the narrow passage between Iran and Oman remains the focal point of a crisis with consequences far beyond the region.

As Wednesday’s events unfolded, shipping data showed continued low activity, with experts cautioning that full normalization — if it occurs — would require sustained calm, mine clearance and restored insurer confidence. Until then, the Hormuz chokepoint continues to dictate headlines and energy costs worldwide.