A guide leads the entire sector: Behind SanDisk's 14% rise, AI computing power is becoming a "laying asset."

Source: BIT Brokerage

After a recent pullback in the storage chip sector, the entire U.S. stock market has been busy looking for new narratives—optical communication and Neocloud are candidates that have been highlighted by funds during this period.

However, yesterday, the storage camp dropped a bombshell: SanDisk announced its long-term financial model at the 2026 Investor Day, providing financial targets for the fiscal years 2028 to 2030 all at once. The quality of this guidance is enough to prompt the entire sector to reassess the pricing of storage stocks.

1. How explosive is this guidance?

First, let's look at two numbers.

Revenue: Expected to grow by 15% to 19% annually over the next few years, and maintain this range for three consecutive years—this is not a one-year pulse but a stable slope written into the long-term model.

Profit: Gross margin is expected to remain around 80%. This means that for every $100 in revenue, $80 can be retained at the gross margin level. In the storage industry, known for its cyclical fluctuations, this profit margin level is considered outrageous.

2. More important than the numbers is the structure: NAND is being "de-cycled"

Beyond the numbers, what truly excites the market is the change in the business model disclosed by SanDisk.

The company stated that it has already signed new business model (NBM) agreements with 8 customers. The terms of these agreements are carefully designed: they include commitments for purchase volumes, binding contract frameworks, minimum financial guarantees, and structured pricing mechanisms. The purpose is clear—to align customer demand rhythms with the company's capacity planning, smoothing out the traditional boom and bust cycles of the storage industry as much as possible.

The coverage scale is already quite considerable: the existing NBM agreements cover about half of FY2027 bit shipments and approximately two-thirds of FY2028 bit shipments.

In other words, SanDisk is actually doing two things: betting on the long-term growth of storage demand driven by AI, while gradually transforming the cyclical NAND business, which relies on market conditions, into a business where revenue and cash flow can be locked in early through long-term contracts. The latter's impact on the valuation system is far more profound than just quarterly revenue figures.

3. Sector resonance: A bullish candle, everyone thanks SanDisk

The market's response was unequivocal. SanDisk's stock rose nearly 14%, driving the entire storage chip sector to rally strongly: Micron rose 4%, and SK Hynix rose 7%.

It can be said that the entire sector is grateful for this guidance. If we extend the timeline, this scene has another layer of meaning—previously, the big short Burry's collapse logic regarding the AI chip sector is now being dismantled by increasing evidence. From the strong renewal prices of old cards in Neocloud's financial report to SanDisk's multi-year demand locking, the short sellers' preset "demand collapse" scenario has yet to materialize.

4. Jensen Huang adds a twist: A100 will be in service until 2029

Just outside of SanDisk, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's latest statement has added another brick to this logic.

The company stated that a recent A100 contract will last until 2029. The A100 was launched in 2020, and if this contract is executed smoothly, it means that this batch of older generation GPUs will still have commercial rental value nearly a decade after their launch.

The weight of this statement lies not in "2029" itself, but in the last three words. Rentable means that older cards can continue to generate rental income; durable overturns the shorts' assumption of "scrapping in two or three years"; financeable means that financial institutions are willing to use GPUs as collateral—an asset can only be truly "assetized" when it can be priced by banks.

5. In conclusion: AI infrastructure is transforming from a "money-burning beast" into a "cash-generating asset"

Therefore, the continuous rise in stock prices of SanDisk, Micron, and Hynix over the past week suggests that the market is trading not just on the long-term demand for storage, but also on a deeper transformation:

AI infrastructure is shifting from a narrative of "continuously burning CapEx" to a category of assets that can be financed, leased, and generate rolling cash flow. When GPUs can be used as collateral for loans, older cards can be renewed for rental income, and NAND can lock in shipments with long-term contracts, the valuation anchor of this industry has quietly shifted from "cyclical stocks" to "infrastructure-like assets."

The most important indicators to watch next, besides the demand for storage chips themselves, are two finer metrics: the renewal prices of old cards and the utilization rates of old cards. If these two do not decline, the time window for storage benefits may be longer than the market's current pricing suggests.

Disclaimer: This article is written by an external author and represents the author's personal views, not the stance, opinions, or investment advice of BIT. The information, data, and opinions mentioned in this article are for reference only and do not constitute any recommendations or advice for investment, trading, or other financial products. The market carries risks, and investments should be made cautiously.