Memory chip giants Micron (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) have been among the biggest winners of the AI rally. With global demand for DRAM and NAND flash storage reaching unprecedented levels, both stocks have seen massive runs. However, this explosive growth has pushed share prices well above the average expectations of Wall Street analysts. Using TipRanks’ Stock Comparison tool, we analyze which of these two “Strong Buy” stocks faces more downside risk based on current valuations.
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Micron Stock Trades Well Above Analysts’ Price Targets
Micron stock has gained nearly 102% year-to-date and more than 616% over the past year, driven by the robust demand for memory solutions, mainly high-bandwidth memory (HBM), amid the ongoing AI boom. Moreover, the company is benefiting from high memory pricing due to tight industry supply.
Wall Street remains highly bullish on the company’s long-term outlook, especially as AI servers require significantly more memory capacity. Recently, top Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh raised his Micron price target to $740 from $545, citing strong growth across DRAM and NAND markets along with rising HBM demand. The analyst expects Micron’s Fiscal 2027 revenue and earnings to grow 66% and 80%, respectively, driven by continued AI-related memory demand. He also projects the HBM market to surpass $100 billion by 2028 as AI adoption continues to accelerate.
However, despite the bullish sentiment, Micron’s stock has climbed far above the broader Wall Street consensus target. According to TipRanks data, the average analyst price target for Micron stands at $581.89, implying roughly 12.7% downside from current levels. That suggests the stock’s recent rally may have outpaced analyst expectations for now.
Still, Micron continues to hold a Strong Buy consensus rating from analysts.
SanDisk Stock Appears Closer to Fair Value
SanDisk has seen an even stronger rally, with shares soaring more than 429% year-to-date and over 3,600% during the past year.
The company has benefited from growing enterprise SSD demand tied to AI data centers and improving NAND pricing trends. Like Micron, SanDisk also received bullish analyst commentary recently, with Mizuho’s Vijay Rakesh raising his price target on the stock to $1,625 from $1,220, implying 15% upside from current levels. The analyst said growing AI-driven NAND demand and improving pricing trends should continue supporting strong margins and earnings growth over the next few years.
Unlike Micron, however, SanDisk’s current share price remains much closer to the average Wall Street target. The average analyst price target for SanDisk stands at $1,409.06, almost in line with the current stock price and implying only minimal downside risk based on consensus estimates.
SanDisk also carries a Strong Buy consensus rating on Wall Street.
Which Stock Has More Downside Risk?
Based on current price targets, SanDisk appears to offer a safer entry point than Micron.
While both companies remain key beneficiaries of the AI boom and hold “Strong Buy” ratings, Micron is currently trading well above its average Wall Street price target, facing roughly 14% downside risk. In contrast, SanDisk remains more closely aligned with analyst expectations, suggesting its massive rally is better reflected in current valuations.
For long-term investors, both stocks are strong AI infrastructure players.