Why This AI Stock Ran So Much (And Could Keep Going)

SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) has had a massive run, and at first glance it looks like “just another AI sympathy trade.” But the reason shares are up so much (and why the stock continues to score well in Zen Ratings - where it currently has an A or Strong Buy rating) has less to do with hype and more to do with a structural shift in how AI infrastructure actually works.

SNDK has run up over 200% in the last 3 months at the time of writing:

Why? At a high level, SanDisk sits in a part of the AI stack that investors ignored for years: enterprise storage. And suddenly, that part of the stack has become unavoidable…

Here’s Why the Run Isn’t Over…

The AI buildout isn’t just about GPUs. In fact, GPUs are useless without fast, scalable access to data. High Bandwidth Memory is extremely expensive and physically constrained, while traditional hard drives are far too slow for modern AI workloads. That leaves one solution in the middle: high-capacity enterprise SSDs.

This “warm storage” layer has become a bottleneck. Hyperscalers can’t generate returns on their AI investments without it, which means storage spending is no longer discretionary. Even if prices rise, buyers still have to show up … otherwise they strand billions of dollars of GPU capital.

That realization has driven a sharp reassessment of NAND demand. What used to be viewed as a deeply cyclical, commoditized market is now being treated as mandatory AI infrastructure. SanDisk, which specializes in enterprise and data-center-grade flash storage, sits directly in that demand stream.

At the same time, the NAND industry itself has changed. After years of oversupply and destructive competition, capacity expansion has slowed. Capital is flowing toward higher-return areas like HBM, not toward flooding the NAND market. That discipline matters, and it’s one reason pricing has held up far better than investors expected.

Why SanDisk still screens well

Even after the run, SanDisk continues to score highly on growth screens because the fundamentals are improving alongside sentiment.

First, demand visibility is better. AI workloads are becoming more data-intensive, not less … especially as models shift toward video, imagery, and multimodal training. That drives persistent demand for fast, high-capacity storage.

Second, SanDisk’s position in the market is strategically valuable. It’s not the largest NAND supplier, but that’s actually part of the appeal. Hyperscalers want supplier diversification and don’t want to rely entirely on the biggest players. SanDisk’s role as a credible alternative increases its chances of qualification and allocation during tight markets.

Third, the business model is relatively capital-efficient. Through joint-venture manufacturing and disciplined investment, SanDisk can participate in leading-edge storage demand without carrying the full burden of building cutting-edge fabs. That supports margins and cash flow as pricing improves.

That’s why SNDK is scoring an A for its Growth Component Grade. It’s also scoring As in two other Component Grades. Click here to see them.

The takeaway

SanDisk didn’t run because investors suddenly discovered storage. It ran because storage stopped being optional.

As long as AI spending continues (and as long as GPUs require massive, low-latency access to data) enterprise SSDs remain a hard requirement. That shifts NAND from a boom-and-bust commodity to a critical piece of infrastructure.

The stock isn’t “cheap” in the old sense … in fact, it’s scoring a C according to our Value Component Grade. But it’s arguably being valued under a new framework, one where demand is more inelastic, supply growth is more controlled, and SanDisk occupies a real choke point in the AI stack.

That’s why the stock ran. And that’s why, despite the move, the market still isn’t done paying attention.

Add SNDK to your watchlist here.

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