Key Points
Micron and SanDisk have delivered tremendous gains over the past 12 months.
Both companies have strong growth prospects thanks to soaring demand for their memory products.
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Most investors would be very happy if a stock they owned quadrupled over 10 years. But they'd likely be ecstatic if the stock instead delivered such a huge gain over 12 months. That's what six members of the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) have done over the last year.
Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) and SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) rank among those massive winners. Micron's shares have soared more than 300% over the last 12 months, while SanDisk's stock has been a 10-bagger. Which of these memory stocks is the better pick now? Here's how Micron and SanDisk stack up against each other.
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Image source: Micron Technology.
The case for Micron
Micron makes multiple types of memory, including dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), NAND flash memory, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). It continues to be highly successful on all fronts.
The company generated record DRAM revenue of $10.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 69% year over year and 20% quarter over quarter. Micron can't make enough DRAM chips to keep up with demand. It's a similar story with NAND flash memory. Micron reported Q1 NAND revenue of $2.7 billion, a 22% year-over-year and sequential increase. Again, demand is significantly outpacing supply.
Micron's HBM opportunity is even more impressive. The company has completely sold out of HBM supplies for 2026. It expects the total addressable market for HBM to increase at a compound annual growth rate of around 40% through 2028, reaching $100 billion. HBM is critical for AI chips. Micron's key competitive advantage is that its HBM3E chips use 30% lower power than rivals.
What about the recent reports that Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) is only using HBM4 from Micron's two competitors, Samsung and SK Hynix, for its Vera Rubin GPU/CPU platform? At first glance, that sounds like devastating news if true. However, Micron is expected to remain a key supplier for Nvidia's Rubin CPX GPUs designed for massive-context inference. The company shouldn't have any problems finding other buyers for its HBM beyond 2026, either.
Despite Micron's tremendous growth prospects, its stock is cheap, with shares trading at only 11.5 times forward earnings. This low valuation is primarily due to Micron's reputation as a cyclical stock. But the current upward cycle in memory seems likely to continue for a while.
The case for SanDisk
SanDisk isn't a jack-of-all-trades in the memory market. Instead, the company focuses solely on NAND memory. Thanks to the massive storage requirements of large language models (LLMs), SanDisk now enjoys unprecedented pricing power.
Like Micron, SanDisk continues to benefit from a supply demand imbalance. CEO David Goeckeler expects this dynamic to extend beyond 2026. As a result, he told analysts in SanDisk's latest quarterly update: "Customers are proactively seeking long-term commitments given the critical nature of our technology and to secure continued access to our products."
SanDisk's revenue jumped 61% year over year and 31% quarter over quarter in its fiscal 2026 second quarter. The company expects Q3 revenue will increase more than 50% sequentially at the midpoint of its guidance range.
The longer-term future also looks bright for SanDisk. As a case in point, the company recently teamed up with SK Hynix to standardize High Bandwidth Flash (HBF). This technology could be the next-generation memory solution for AI inference.
SanDisk's forward price-to-earnings ratio stands at 13.4. Although this is arguably value stock territory, many investors may still be leery of the stock due to its cyclical business.
Better memory stock to buy now
Which of these two memory stocks is the better pick to buy now? I think the nod goes to Micron. The company's multi-year HBM contracts have made it a less risky proposition than in the past.
However, with the state of AI in 2026, perhaps the best approach is to focus on the bottleneck you view as the biggest opportunity. Micron helps address the speed challenges in AI processing, while SanDisk helps address storage challenges. Both stocks could remain big winners.
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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Micron Technology and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
