Remember when everyone was hoarding toilet paper? Well, now it’s memory chips, and the hoarders are AI data centers with bottomless appetites and deep pockets.
Here’s what’s happening: AI is basically that friend who shows up to your party and eats everything in your fridge. Except instead of leftover pizza, it’s devouring memory chips faster than companies can make them. And just like your friend who never brings snacks, AI isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
The numbers are wild. SanDisk just reported that their data center sales jumped 64% in one quarter. That’s not growth—that’s a feeding frenzy. Their executives are basically saying, “Yeah, we can’t keep up with demand, and this party’s going until at least 2027.”
Micron, another memory maker, admitted they can only satisfy half to two-thirds of what their core customers want. Imagine being so popular that you have to turn away business. That’s the kind of problem every CEO dreams about having.
So who’s winning this memory lottery? Four companies are sitting pretty:
SanDisk led the charge Monday with a 16% stock jump. They’re basically the cool kid everyone wants to hang out with right now.
Western Digital popped 10%. They make the storage drives that keep all that AI data from floating into the digital void.
Micron and Seagate Technology both gained 6%. Not bad for a Monday.
But here’s where it gets interesting (and slightly terrifying): this shortage isn’t just hitting data centers. It’s trickling down to regular companies too. Even Apple—yes, the company that prints money—is feeling the squeeze.
Tim Cook basically said, “We’re in chase mode trying to get enough memory chips.” When Apple is scrambling for supplies, you know things are serious. They’re even considering raising iPhone prices by $50-100 to deal with the cost pressure. Because apparently, we haven’t suffered enough.
The analysts are calling this a “supercycle,” which is finance-speak for “this gravy train isn’t stopping anytime soon.” William Blair thinks the party continues into 2027, while Mizuho analysts are so bullish they recently raised their price targets on all four stocks.
The bottom line? AI’s insatiable hunger for memory is creating winners and losers. The memory makers are laughing all the way to the bank, while everyone else is either paying up or waiting in line.
It’s like the California Gold Rush, except instead of pickaxes and pans, the tools are semiconductors and server farms. And just like back then, the real money isn’t in finding gold—it’s in selling shovels to the miners.
The question isn’t whether this trend continues, but how long before someone figures out how to make memory chips faster than AI can eat them. Until then, these four stocks are riding the wave.