SanDisk shares have surged 3,163% over the past 12 months and Micron Technology has climbed 644% in the same period as artificial intelligence data center demand has created a historic shortage of memory chips, professional money manager Bill Gunderson said Friday.
Gunderson, president of Gunderson Capital Management and host of the “Best Stocks Now” radio program, called the current environment a memory chip supercycle — one he said will continue for some time before supply can catch up.
“The supply demand equation is way out of whack.”
— Bill Gunderson
SanDisk, trading at approximately $1,620 per share Friday, has risen 544% year to date and is one of Gunderson Capital Management’s largest holdings. JPMorgan has set a price target of $2,250 on the stock, representing roughly $630 in potential upside. Wedbush set a more conservative target of $2,000 following SanDisk’s investor day earlier this week, expressing some skepticism about the company’s long-term cyclical narrative.
Gunderson described Micron Technology as his top stock pick entering the year. Micron has risen 644% over the past 12 months and 233% year to date, he said. The five major global memory chip producers are Micron, SK Hynix, SanDisk, Samsung and CXMT, a Chinese manufacturer, Gunderson said.
The shortage has put pressure on Apple Inc., which relies heavily on memory chips for iPhones and computers.
“It’s causing Apple fits with their profit margins and having to raise prices on a lot of their products to make up for it.”
— Bill Gunderson
Gunderson cautioned that the gains reflect a cyclical dynamic rather than a permanent structural shift.
“Eventually the supply is going to get a lot better and the prices are going to go down a lot, but it’s going to take quite a while.”
— Bill Gunderson
On the AI software side, Gunderson expressed skepticism about anticipated initial public offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic, arguing that artificial intelligence software is becoming a commodity. He cited Alphabet, Google’s parent company, as evidence.
“I think that AI is going to become a commodity. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, and I think Alphabet is kind of proof of that.”
— Bill Gunderson
Google this week launched Gemini 3.7 and a Flash version of the model. AI infrastructure companies Nebius Group (NBIS) and Core Weave (CRWV) both posted strong quarterly earnings this week. Nebius shares rose approximately 6% Friday. Wedbush said Nebius stands to benefit from rising AI data center pricing, Gunderson said.
SpaceX completed a $60 billion acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor this week, Bloomberg reported. Chief Executive Elon Musk said “AI is the present and future” of the company.
Investor Michael Burry has taken short positions against several high-performing AI stocks. Gunderson said he does not expect the strategy to succeed.
“He’s trying to stop a freight train with a short position.”
— Bill Gunderson
Applied Materials (AMAT), a semiconductor equipment maker with a market capitalization of approximately $424 billion, reported quarterly earnings Thursday that were up 20% year over year, with sales rising 11.1%. Gunderson said the stock earns an “A+” performance grade in his proprietary model and carries an estimated five-year price target of $1,051 — representing approximately 99% upside — but said weak chart momentum following a recent sell-off would prevent him from buying it at this time.
With earnings season nearly complete, analysts project S&P 500 earnings will increase more than 50% this quarter compared with the same period last year, Gunderson said.