The 2026 Q1 earnings cycle continues to move along following last week’s releases from several big banks, with the overall scorecard remaining nicely positive so far. The broader revisions trend remains on an upward trajectory, with positive estimates coming in across several sectors.
And throughout the Q1 cycle, several companies – SanDisk (SNDK) and Western Digital (WDC) – are forecasted to see strong growth, with their roles in the AI frenzy a big reason.
SanDisk Keeps Climbing
SanDisk shares have been melting higher in 2026 as its critical role in AI infrastructure becomes increasingly recognized. The stock is up more than 280% YTD, posting one of the strongest performances we’ve seen from the AI-related stocks.
AI is driving a huge surge in storage demand, which is where SanDisk comes in. NAND prices are rising rapidly, with AI data centers, cloud providers, and edge devices all needing more high-speed storage. The stock sports the highly coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), with EPS revisions soaring across the board, with the EPS estimate for the soon-to-be-reported period up nearly 20% over recent months.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The growth outlook for the upcoming release remains robust, with the Zacks Consensus Sales estimate of $4.6 billion reflecting a 170% year-over-year increase. Earnings growth is also forecasted to be outsized, with the $13.92 per share consensus estimate soaring from the -$0.30 per share loss a year ago.
Top line revisions have been notably bullish as well over recent months, as shown below.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Western Digital Growth Remains Robust
WDC shares have been mighty strong as well in 2026, gaining more than 120% YTD. Western Digital provides scalable, sustainable technology for hyperscalers, enterprises, and cloud providers, providing cutting-edge innovation that’s expected to drive the next generation of AI-driven data workloads.
EPS revisions remain on an upward trajectory across the board, with the upcoming release’s estimate of $2.39 modestly higher than where it stood a few months back. Current consensus estimates for the upcoming release allude to 40% YoY sales growth on 75% higher earnings, continuing its recent growth streak nicely.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The sales estimate for the quarter has remained stable over recent months but is still higher than where it stood near the end of January, up roughly 7% over that timeframe.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bottom Line
The 2026 Q1 earnings season is well underway, with many companies on deck in the coming weeks. It looks to be another period of positivity, with the overall earnings outlook supported by rising estimate revisions across several sectors.
And throughout the period, keep an eye out for results from SanDisk (SNDK) and Western Digital (WDC) , which are both expected to see outsized growth on the back of their favorable position in the AI craze.
— Derek Lewis
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Source: Zacks
