Sandisk's fast-growing data-center revenue strengthens its case among memory names with upside. Data-center revenue rose 61% quarter over quarter; revenue of $11.03B, adjusted EPS of $49.51 and adjusted gross margin of 85.1% all exceeded estimates. For upside among Micron, Sandisk and Kioxia, Micron ranks first, then Sandisk, then Kioxia, until further guidance. x.com  x.com 

Kioxia looks cheap, and better than SanDisk, because NAND may have more demand torque than DRAM over the next 12-18 months as KV cache and AI content storage demand grows. Kioxia is cheaper than SanDisk and has a better KV cache offering. NAND does carry bigger long-term China supply risks. x.com  x.com 

Kioxia's 74% operating margin is a shortage premium with an expiration date set by its own investor deck. AI inference storage demand is real, but management's supply-demand chart shows NAND returning toward balance by late 2027, and its long-term model targets mid-20% operating margins. The stock is about 12x the annualized peak quarter but roughly triple that on the company's normalized plan. The bull case: hyperscaler contracts and the inference-storage tier keep margins structurally higher. … Show more

Kioxia's next-12-month growth is likely to far surpass that of other major memory makers, yet it trades cheaper with no clear reason, possibly even below SK hynix's US ADR. @CeleritasRe notes it is doing a buyback and is probably the only name on the list that could credibly attract a takeover bid. x.com  x.com 

Kioxia's valuation gap with SanDisk should close as it pursues a US ADS listing, after the most violent earnings beat in memory this cycle. Hyperscalers are building AI data centers faster than NAND supply can keep up, so prices are surging: its SSD segment nearly doubled in a quarter despite lower shipments. Revenue rose 84.5% and operating profit 318%. It owns 51% of the fabs making SanDisk's chips and outsold it last quarter, yet is worth $152 billion to SanDisk's $208 billion. x.com  x.com 

Kioxia's need to do a buyback is proof that the flash-memory boom is over. x.com 

Sandisk's earnings growth makes its valuation look unusually low, with guidance showing no slowdown. Revenue rose 378% year over year, and $52.5 GAAP EPS implies a 6.1 annualized P/E, below Micron's. Sandisk's roughly 85% gross margin also compares favorably with SK hynix's apparently sub-50% NAND margin. Next-quarter guidance calls for $12.2 billion-$12.6 billion of revenue and $55-$57 non-GAAP EPS. x.com  x.com  x.com 

Kioxia and SanDisk are the purer bets on NAND and enterprise SSDs, with more torque to QLC, KV-cache and offload storage, and Kioxia trades at a far lower multiple. Enterprise SSD is where the memory supercycle is being priced, as US cloud providers raised eSSD demand forecasts and QLC emerges as the cost-efficient growth driver, per a post citing TrendForce. x.com 

Kioxia faces eroding pricing power as surging chip production capacity threatens the storage-chip boom. TSMC's signal of a hike in 2026 capex to $64 billion fed fears that new capacity will erode the pricing that made memory a gold mine, amid broader doubts that AI spending turns into stable profits. The stock has fallen 52% from its June highs. After a 600% climb on retail leverage, the descent is rarely gentle, and in cyclical industries supply-side realities catch up to the hype. x.com 

Kioxia is gaining NAND share as AI eats through storage, while Samsung and SK hynix shift resources to HBM. Staying focused on NAND has given it production costs 20-30% below competitors. Its quarterly operating profit hit $3.8B, passing Toyota as one of Japan's most profitable businesses, with about $15B of net income expected in 2027. Even after rising 2,000% in a year it trades at 8.9x forward earnings and is preparing a US listing. The key question is whether NAND pricing holds. x.com  x.com