Sandisk’s stock is rising: Why one analyst says AI could help it reach new heights

A Rosenblatt analyst points to a structural shift in how NAND flash memory is being used. As AI models grow larger and inference workloads expand, the analyst argues that NAND is moving away from its traditional role as a commodity component and toward something closer to critical infrastructure. That reframing, according to the analyst, could support a higher valuation for Sandisk, whose stock is rising on the view.

The logic centers on demand characteristics. Commodity memory tends to trade on cyclical supply and pricing, with limited differentiation between producers. If AI training and inference genuinely require more specialized, higher-performance NAND, the addressable demand becomes less tied to consumer device cycles and more tied to data center buildouts—a shift that could change how investors model the business.

What to watch: whether hyperscaler and enterprise AI spending actually translates into sustained NAND orders, and whether the broader industry's capacity discipline holds. If supply expands faster than AI-driven demand, the commodity dynamic could reassert itself. The analyst's thesis is a directional call, not a certainty, and memory markets have historically been volatile.