Wall Street’s “Magnificent Seven” moniker has helped keep investor attention focused on the largest U.S. technology names, but the next phase of the artificial intelligence build-out is also fueling a different category of high-growth businesses. Memory and AI infrastructure beneficiaries—Micron Technology, Sandisk (Western Digital’s flash memory brand), and Nebius Group—are positioned to gain from elevated demand for NAND and DRAM used across data centers, servers, and storage systems.
Key takeaways
- Micron: Revenue surged from $13.6 billion to $23.9 billion over two quarters, with management guiding for $33.5 billion for its recently completed fiscal third quarter.
- Catalyst: Supply constraints in DRAM and NAND have been intensified by demand tied to AI infrastructure expansion.
- Sandisk: Revenue rose 251% year over year to $5.95 billion in the most recent quarter, with analysts expecting 167% growth for fiscal 2026 and 122% for fiscal 2027.
- Nebius: Revenue increased 684% year over year in Q1, with Wall Street projecting 551% growth for the rest of 2026 and 224% for 2027.
- Implication: The market is pricing in sustained AI-driven capacity demand, but investors will likely watch for how quickly memory supply ramps and whether growth assumptions hold.
What drives the growth thesis
The common thread across Micron, Sandisk, and Nebius is that they operate at key choke points in the AI stack—memory and the data-center capacity needed to run AI workloads.
Micron makes NAND and DRAM memory. NAND is largely used in solid-state drives, while DRAM is used for fast system memory. According to the article, unprecedented demand from AI infrastructure has kept both categories in short supply, supporting pricing power that translates into accelerating revenue and earnings.
Sandisk focuses on NAND, which is used in SSDs and is widely deployed for data-center storage. The article argues that limited NAND supply has not kept pace with AI-related storage demand.
Nebius Group is described as a neocloud company that builds data centers for AI-first cloud services. In that framework, its growth is tied to expanding capacity and capturing demand as AI workloads scale.
Micron: revenue momentum built on memory tightness
The article cites a sharp change in Micron’s sales trajectory. It notes that Micron’s revenue totaled $13.6 billion two quarters ago and rose to $23.9 billion last quarter.
For its recently completed fiscal third quarter, Micron’s management guided for $33.5 billion, implying a continuation of rapid sequential growth. The report also states that memory-chip shortages are not expected to resolve soon, which, if accurate, would support further capacity additions and pricing stability.
On Wall Street expectations, the article references consensus growth estimates for Micron: 197% growth for fiscal 2026 (ending in August) and 63% growth for fiscal 2027.
Sandisk: NAND-focused demand and outsized growth expectations
Sandisk’s revenue growth in the most recent quarter was described as even more dramatic than Micron’s. The article says revenue increased 251% year over year to $5.95 billion.
Looking ahead, the piece points to analyst expectations for continued rapid expansion. It cites projected revenue growth of 167% for fiscal 2026 (ending this month) and 122% for fiscal 2027.
For investors, the key interpretation implied by the article is that NAND demand—linked to SSD requirements in data centers—could remain elevated even as companies expand production capacity. The principal risk, left implicit, would be whether supply improvements arrive faster than end-demand growth.
Nebius: scaling AI-first cloud infrastructure
Unlike pure-play memory manufacturers, Nebius Group is positioned around building and operating data-center capacity for AI-first cloud services. The article highlights that revenue climbed 684% year over year in Q1.
The report also emphasizes expansion plans and ongoing market share capture while demand is strong. It cites Wall Street expectations for 551% growth for the rest of 2026 and 224% growth in 2027. The article further claims Nebius’ revenue could rise about 20x from the end of 2025 to 2027.
This growth profile, as presented, suggests investors would be evaluating not just current demand but also execution—how quickly additional capacity converts into usable, contracted revenue rather than remaining underutilized.
What investors may watch next
As AI infrastructure spending continues to feed demand for compute, storage, and memory, the next market test for these companies will likely be the balance between supply additions and end-demand durability. For Micron and Sandisk, investors will focus on whether memory shortages persist long enough to validate rapid growth expectations, and on guidance updates that reflect pricing and shipment trends. For Nebius, attention will likely shift toward expansion execution—whether capacity expansions translate into sustained revenue growth in line with Wall Street projections.
Near-term, earnings reports, forward guidance, and industry commentary on memory pricing and AI data-center build-outs will be the most immediate catalysts. Investors may also be watching macro conditions that influence technology spending and capital expenditure decisions across the data-center ecosystem.
