Micron and Sandisk continue rally as demand for memory expected to persist

shares of micron and sandisk kept climbing monday after melius research said memory demand could stay high through the end of the decade. micron hit a record, market cap approaching $600 billion. sandisk gained 8.1%, up over 3,000% in the past year, market cap past $157 billion. melius analyst ben reitzes upgraded micron to buy, saying it could gain another 41% over the next 12 months. "we are only in the early innings of this ai cycle and the need for memory has never been stronger," he wrote. he predicted sandisk would rise another 36%. the global shortage for ai chips is driving it all. hbm memory, bonded directly to nvidia and amd gpus, is in high demand. the dram market has seen 30% quarter-over-quarter growth for two straight periods, per counterpoint research. consumers are feeling it — gartner says pc prices will rise 17% this year, and ssds now cost two to three times what they did in december. memory buyers are locking into longer contracts, three to five years. broadcom has secured supply through 2028. micron is spending $24 billion expanding its singapore nand facility and building new u.s. fabs in new york and idaho. sk hynix broke ground on its first u.s. memory plant in indiana. sandisk reports quarterly results next week.