Sandisk stock rises after Rosenblatt starts coverage with buy rating
Sandisk closed up 6.8% after Rosenblatt’s Kevin Cassidy set a $2,400 target and said AI could reshape demand for NAND storage.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
3 min read
Sandisk stock rose on AI optimism Tuesday after Rosenblatt analyst Kevin Cassidy began coverage with a buy rating and a $2,400 price target. Shares closed at $1,887.04, up 6.8% on the day, according to MarketWatch.
The target was about 30% above that closing price. It is Cassidy’s assessment, not a guarantee of where the shares will trade.
Why does Rosenblatt think AI could lift Sandisk?
Cassidy’s call rests on the idea that AI systems could change how data-center customers value NAND flash, the storage technology sold by Sandisk. NAND is nonvolatile flash storage, meaning it keeps data even when it is not receiving constant power.
For PCs, smartphones and other consumer electronics, demand has historically centered on density and cost per bit, Cassidy said. His view is that larger AI models and inference, the process of using a trained model to make predictions, put greater emphasis on density, performance, endurance and supply certainty rather than the lowest possible price.
That could make NAND a more important part of AI infrastructure, Cassidy argued, rather than an interchangeable commodity product. The outcome remains a thesis from the analyst, not an established shift in the market.
Technology and customer deals are central to the call
Cassidy also pointed to Sandisk’s BiCS8 and BiCS10 technology roadmap, developed with Japan’s Kioxia. The architectures stack memory cells vertically, a design intended to fit more storage into less physical space.
Sandisk’s NAND technology enables higher density at favorable costs and could sustain a performance-and-cost advantage for large-scale AI storage products, in Cassidy’s view.
He forecast Sandisk data-center revenue of $21.7 billion for fiscal 2027, which began in late June, rising to $28.6 billion in fiscal 2028. Those figures are analyst projections, rather than reported company results.
The other piece of the argument is Sandisk’s multiyear agreements with eight major NAND customers. The deals allow customers to secure supply at set prices and will cover a large amount of Sandisk’s NAND production capacity, according to MarketWatch’s account of Cassidy’s note.
Cassidy said the agreements could give Sandisk clearer demand visibility and reduce the volatility that has marked past NAND cycles. Separately, 247WallSt reported his estimate that the arrangements could cover 65% of fiscal 2028 production.
What could go wrong?
The bull case depends on Sandisk executing on its technology roadmap and on AI-related demand continuing to support the features customers are willing to pay for. Cassidy also identified a familiar risk for memory makers: NAND pricing could revert to its cyclical, commodity-like pattern.
For now, the Tuesday rally reflected a new analyst endorsement. Whether the AI-storage case holds will depend on demand, pricing and the performance of the customer agreements over time.
This story draws on original reporting from MarketWatch.