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, arguing that larger AI models and inference workloads are turning the technology from a commodity into a critical component. That reframing helps explain why Sandisk's stock is drawing attention: if memory is no longer just a cyclical input but a performance bottleneck in AI systems, pricing power and demand durability could look different than in past cycles.

The market relevance lies in that distinction. NAND has historically been treated as a commodity business, with sharp swings in supply and demand driving margins. If AI training and inference genuinely require more high-performance storage, the analyst's view suggests demand could be tied to compute buildouts rather than consumer device cycles.

What to watch: whether hyperscaler and enterprise AI spending translates into sustained NAND orders, how competitors add capacity, and whether pricing holds. Those signals will determine if this is a durable re-rating story or another cyclical upswing.