The Top 3 Tech Stocks in the S&P 500 With the Highest Gains This Week

Market Overview: S&P 500 Faces Third Consecutive Weekly Drop

On Friday morning, the S&P 500 was on track to record its third week in a row of losses, falling roughly 0.5% shortly after trading began.

Geopolitical Tensions and Economic Indicators

The ongoing conflict in Iran, now entering its third week, continues to create uncertainty in the stock market, especially as oil prices climb. Recent economic data, including the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), showed little change, leaving investors without clear direction. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that economic growth in the last quarter of 2025 was weaker than anticipated, while core inflation accelerated at the start of 2026.

Technology Sector Performance

This week, technology stocks outpaced the broader market, as reflected by the State Street Technology Select SPDR ETF, which tracks tech companies within the S&P 500. By Friday afternoon, the ETF’s performance was essentially unchanged for the week.

Memory chip companies continued to lead the sector. Below are the top three technology stocks in the S&P 500 for this week:

• Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) — up 27%
• Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) — up 15.5%
• Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) — up 15%

Sandisk: Leading the Pack with a 27% Surge

Sandisk, a major producer of NAND flash and solid-state memory drives for mobile devices, gaming, and data centers, soared 27% this week, making it the top-performing tech stock in the S&P 500.

Year-to-date, Sandisk’s shares have climbed 182%, and over the past year, they have skyrocketed 1,230%.

This week’s rally was likely driven by reports indicating that NAND memory drives are nearly sold out for 2026, causing supply shortages and boosting both demand and prices.

Despite its remarkable growth, Sandisk remains attractive for investors, trading at a reasonable 15 times forward earnings amid a booming cycle for memory stocks.

Ciena: Up 15.5% on Strong Earnings

Ciena, which provides adaptive networking solutions for telecom and cloud companies, saw its stock jump 15.5% this week.

Although its gains aren’t as dramatic as Sandisk’s, Ciena has delivered impressive results, with its share price up 45% year-to-date and 412% over the past year.

The company’s technology enables large enterprises to efficiently move data across their networks.

Ciena’s strong earnings report this week easily surpassed analyst expectations, fueling its stock’s rise.

Ciena’s Financial Highlights

In the fiscal first quarter ending January 31, Ciena reported a 33% increase in revenue and a 111% jump in adjusted earnings compared to the previous year. With a record backlog, the company raised its guidance for the full fiscal year, projecting 28% revenue growth and an operating margin of 18.5% at the midpoint, up from 11.2% last year.

Investors should note that Ciena’s stock is relatively expensive, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 214 and a forward P/E of 77.

Micron Technology: Up 15% and Still a Strong Buy

Micron Technology, another memory and storage company, rose about 15% this week. While Micron offers NAND flash drives, its main business is DRAM chips, which are essential for GPUs, data centers, smartphones, and computers. The company is benefiting from the same high-demand, low-supply cycle as Sandisk.

Micron received significant analyst upgrades this week, with Wells Fargo raising its price target by $60 to $470 per share and Wedbush increasing its target from $320 to $500 per share, citing tight supply and robust demand.

Micron is set to report earnings on March 18, prompting some investors to buy ahead of the announcement in anticipation of another strong quarter.

Year-to-date, Micron’s shares are up 49%, and over the past 12 months, they have gained 345%. The stock trades at just 12 times forward earnings, making it an appealing investment.

Is Now the Right Time to Invest in Micron Technology?

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Stock Advisor’s average return stands at 933%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s 188%.

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Disclosure and Additional Information

Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Dave Kovaleski does not own shares in any of the mentioned companies. The Motley Fool holds positions in and recommends Ciena and Micron Technology.

The 3 Best-Performing Tech Stocks in the S&P 500 This Week was first published by The Motley Fool.