As artificial intelligence (AI) fuels a massive memory storage shortage, CNBC's Jim Cramer says top storage stocks still have massive upside, even if their valuations seem stretched.

Chasing The AI Memory Boom

Despite staggering year-to-date gains across the sector, Cramer believes the explosive rally in memory suppliers is far from over.

In a recent X post, he highlighted Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK), and Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX) as prime beneficiaries of an accelerating AI hardware rotation.

"Memory shortage stocks have to go to a higher place," Cramer declared. Emphasizing the intense momentum behind the trade, he added, "It's very difficult to imagine it, but stocks do gallop to where they should be… WDC, SNDK, STX, will be overheated until they get to where they have to go."

SanDisk Eclipses Nvidia

Investors are aggressively pivoting toward the memory side of the AI stack, treating companies like SanDisk as the purest way to play the current data center crunch.

While Nvidia remains the undisputed champion of AI compute, its April performance was decisively overshadowed by storage giants.

SanDisk shares rocketed 81% in April alone, dwarfing Nvidia's modest 1.8% gain and delivering over 45 times the return. SanDisk is now the S&P 500's top-performing stock of 2026, surging roughly 429.05% year-to-date after an already historic run last year.

Big Tech Foots The Bill

This "overheated" pricing power for memory manufacturers is rapidly becoming a hidden cost for hyperscalers. The intense demand for DRAM, NAND, and storage capacity to support AI workloads creates a two-sided trade: unprecedented pricing power for memory suppliers and margin pressure for AI spenders.

Recent earnings reports from Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) all highlighted soaring capital expenditure forecasts driven by spiking component costs.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg directly attributed the company’s raised infrastructure forecast to skyrocketing "memory pricing," confirming that the massive tailwinds propelling SanDisk and Western Digital are being actively fueled by Big Tech’s relentless AI arms race.

Here’s how other memory and storage-linked stocks have performed.

Memory Stocks1-Month PerformanceYTD Performance1-Year Performance
SanDisk Corp.79.00%429.05%3550.76%
Seagate Technology Holdings PLC72.01%168.18%693.53%
Western Digital Corp.49.97%156.78%889.84%
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)57.40%101.97%614.14%

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: jejim from Shutterstock