Memory Stocks Jump on Tuesday: SanDisk, Micron See Strong Gains Again

SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) stock and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) stock are both surging again on Tuesday, each climbing 5% to 6% in midday trading. This is a continuation of Monday’s momentum, when SanDisk and Micron shares rallied sharply.

The most evident trigger pertains to Micron amid the company’s tie-in with a well-known materials producer. Nevertheless, there are potentially enduring implications for the memory sector as a whole.

The clearest trigger for today’s move in MU stock is a freshly announced partnership between Micron and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) to co-develop next-generation DRAM, high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and NAND storage for energy-efficient AI systems. The collaboration will leverage Applied Materials’ new $5 billion EPIC Center in Silicon Valley and Micron’s R&D hub in Boise, Idaho. The focus is on materials engineering, process technologies, and advanced packaging built specifically for future AI workloads.

This is not a vague “strategic alliance” press release. Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson said on his company’s most recent earnings call that “Applied Materials delivered strong results in our fiscal first quarter, fueled by the acceleration of industry investments in AI computing.”

Furthermore, Dickerson projected that Applied Materials’ semiconductor equipment business will grow over 20% in calendar 2026. Pairing that manufacturing muscle with Micron’s memory expertise is the kind of partnership that strengthens both companies’ positions at the core of AI infrastructure.

Morgan Stanley responded by raising Applied Materials’ price target to $432 and naming it a “Top Pick” in U.S. semiconductor production equipment. That vote of confidence is flowing directly into Micron as well, given how tightly the two companies’ fortunes are now linked.

SanDisk stock didn’t have a company-specific catalyst today, but it doesn’t necessarily need one. The stock is catching a broad bid as high-growth AI names rebound across the market Tuesday morning. As the only pure-play NAND company in the public markets after its spinoff from Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) in February 2025, SanDisk moves with AI sentiment, and that sentiment is running hot.

The fundamentals backing that sentiment are hard to argue with. SanDisk reported Q2 fiscal 2026 revenue of $3.03 billion, up 61% year over year, with EPS of $6.20 against a consensus estimate of $3.54. Then the company guided Q3 fiscal 2026 revenue to $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion with adjusted EPS of $12 to $14.

That sequential revenue jump from $3 billion to a midpoint near $4.6 billion is not incremental growth. It’s a step-change driven by hyperscalers accelerating enterprise SSD deployments.

Cantor Fitzgerald has projected that SanDisk’s March quarter EPS could reach $10 to $12, and analysts at several firms have set price targets between $750 and $1,000. Even after a year-to-date gain of 162.4%, the stock traded at $621 midday Tuesday, still well below those targets.

Both stocks are benefiting from what Goldman Sachs has called a “great memory crunch,” with HBM supply not expected to ease until 2028. Micron has already committed its entire 2026 HBM production through multi-year contracts, meaning the revenue visibility here is unusually strong for a sector historically known for brutal cycles.

The r/wallstreetbets community has picked up on this too, with one widely-shared post framing the thesis bluntly: “Micron becomes a sort of second order AI play. If NVIDIA sells more GPUs, memory demand rises.”  The Reddit poster added, “If hyperscalers build more AI data centers, memory demand rises. If large language models continue getting bigger, memory demand rises again.”

Micron’s own numbers back that framing. The company reported Q1 fiscal 2026 revenue of $13.64 billion, up 56.6% year over year, and guided Q2 to approximately $18.70 billion.

CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on the earnings call, “Our Q2 outlook reflects substantial records across revenue, gross margin, EPS and free cash flow.” The Micron chief executive added, “[W]e anticipate our business performance to continue strengthening through fiscal 2026.” Rather than a company merely hedging its outlook, Micron is one that sees the demand clearly and is telling investors exactly what to expect.

MU stock is traded at around $411 midday, up 44.27% year to date and a stunning 374.4% over the past year. Micron’s next earnings report is expected around March 18, with the consensus non-GAAP EPS target sitting at $8.58.

That print could be the next major inflection point for Micron stock directly and SanDisk stock indirectly. If Micron delivers another beat anywhere near the magnitude of last quarter, the memory sector rally would likely see continued attention from investors heading into spring.

The AI memory shortage reflects a structural supply constraint that analysts expect to persist for years. I’s a structural supply constraint meeting an accelerating demand curve, and the Applied Materials partnership announced this morning signals that the industry is investing heavily to meet that demand for years to come. Both SanDisk and Micron sit at the center of that story, and Tuesday’s gains reflect a market that’s increasingly taking that positioning seriously.