New York, April 28, 2026, 10:11 EDT
Micron Technology fell about 3.0% to $508.80 in early trading Tuesday. Sandisk slipped 3.2% to $1,035.50, handing back some of Monday’s sharp gains for memory-chip stocks. That pullback arrived even as analysts delivered some of Wall Street’s boldest AI demand calls yet. Nvidia also shed 2.6%, adding to the pressure around AI chip names.
It’s a notable turn. Investors aren’t just wondering if memory makers can deliver a decent pricing quarter anymore. Instead, DRAM, NAND, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) are increasingly seen as core infrastructure for AI, not just speculative plays on the side.
Unusual cycle brewing for memory? Typically, high prices draw in excess supply, pushing the market lower. But Ben Reitzes of Melius Research pitches a different angle: an “inverse SaaS” model. Instead of the software playbook—steady user subscriptions—this one has customers locking in longer-term deals to secure scarce AI hardware. It’s a flip on the standard narrative. MarketWatch
Melius launched coverage on Sandisk and Micron, assigning Buy ratings and placing two-year targets at $1,350 for Sandisk and $700 for Micron. Reitzes wrote that the “AI memory cycle could keep going through the end of the decade,” adding that investors may reward steadier margins and demand with higher multiples than in past cycles. Investing
Micron rallied 5.6% to $524.56, while Sandisk spiked 8.1% to $1,070.20 on Monday, according to Barron’s. Reitzes put it bluntly: “It is time to acknowledge memory is core to our AI coverage.” Barron’s
D.A. Davidson came out swinging on Tuesday. Analyst Gil Luria initiated coverage of Micron with a Buy rating and set a hefty $1,000 price target, Benzinga reported. In a note cited by The Fly, the team cited artificial intelligence as the key driver behind what they called a “longer-than-usual memory cycle,” as the waves of new compute hardware and rising demand keep feeding off each other. Benzinga
Micron bulls got their moment. Fiscal Q2 revenue soared to $23.86 billion, jumping from just $8.05 billion a year ago. Adjusted gross margin clocked in at 74.9%. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra described memory as a “strategic asset” for customers in the AI era. Micron Technology
Micron, in its prepared remarks, said it has entered into its first five-year strategic customer agreement—an SCA—marking a shift to multi-year supply contracts aimed at boosting predictability for both parties. Such deals matter for the bull case: they suggest major customers are moving past spot buying and opting to secure supply in advance.
Sandisk’s next hurdle arrives Thursday with its fiscal third-quarter results. In January, revenue for the fiscal second quarter hit $3.03 billion—a 61% gain year-over-year. Data-center sales climbed 64% sequentially as AI infrastructure spending kicked in. Looking ahead, the company has guided for third-quarter revenue of $4.40 billion to $4.80 billion, and it’s targeting adjusted EPS somewhere between $12 and $14.
The rivalry here isn’t just theoretical. SK Hynix, Nvidia’s supplier and the second-largest memory producer after Samsung Electronics, disclosed last week that client demand for HBM over the next three years “far exceeds” its current manufacturing capabilities. First-quarter revenue jumped 198%. Reuters
The risk here stands out. Memory is known for its brutal cycles—oversupply, a pause in AI demand, or just smarter workloads needing less capacity, and the rally can unwind in a hurry. Long-term contracts help soften the shocks, but they won’t break the cycle. Micron pointed to all this in its filings, reminding investors outcomes might stray from what’s projected.
Chip stocks caught a downdraft Tuesday, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF tumbling 3.6%. The QQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, lost about 1.1%. That’s pointing to a sector-wide pullback for semis, rather than some direct reaction to the Melius or D.A. Davidson moves.
Sandisk kicks off the memory earnings slate in the coming days, with investors watching closely. Is this surge in memory names truly a break from the old cycle? Once Sandisk reports, attention will quickly move to multi-year contracts, HBM demand, and whether sturdy NAND pricing is enough to justify targets that once looked out of reach.
