SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) have been two of the most whipsawed stocks in the American market this summer. Their earnings expectations have continued to rise.
That divergence has produced a strange screen.
Rank the large-cap US technology universe by forward price-to-earnings, the share price divided by what analysts expect the company to earn over the coming twelve months, and the cheapest name on the list is SanDisk at 6.0 times.
The second cheapest is Micron at 6.3 times.
Both are also up triple digits this year.
Yet Wall Street now values them like businesses in decline.
The Cheapest Corner of Tech Looks Very Different
Look at what surrounds them.
GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY) trades at 8.6 times forward earnings after falling 28% this year.
Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) trades at 8.9 times and remains 75% below its record.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) sits at 9.9 times after dropping 27% this year. Gartner Inc. (NYSE:IT) trades at 11.7 times and remains nearly 69% below its all-time high.
Those are the multiples investors usually assign to businesses facing slowing growth, disruption or uncertainty related to artificial intelligence.
SanDisk and Micron are cheaper than them.
| Company | Forward P/E | 2026 Return | Below All-Time High |
|---|---|---|---|
| SanDisk Corp. | 6.0x | +444.4% | -45.7% |
| Micron Technology Inc. | 6.3x | +216.1% | -28.6% |
| GoDaddy Inc. | 8.6x | -28.2% | -58.7% |
| Super Micro Computer Inc. | 8.9x | +3.4% | -75.4% |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. | 9.3x | -32.4% | -36.3% |
| Gen Digital Inc. | 9.4x | +0.5% | -13.5% |
| Adobe Inc. | 9.9x | -26.7% | -63.2% |
| HP Inc. | 10.3x | +26.7% | -23.3% |
| Gartner Inc. | 11.7x | -27.9% | -68.8% |
The Market Doesn’t Believe Today’s Earnings Will Last
The arithmetic behind those six-times multiples is striking.
SanDisk is now expected to earn $214.32 per share over the next twelve months. Just three months ago, analysts were modeling roughly $168.
That means forward earnings estimates have risen 27.6% in only three months, even as the stock has retreated about 46% from its record.
Micron shows almost the same pattern.
Analysts now expect $144.21 per share over the next twelve months, up 26.7% from roughly $114 three months ago. Yet the stock trades 29% below its all-time high.
That combination matters.
The stocks are not becoming cheaper because Wall Street is cutting forecasts more slowly than prices are falling. They are becoming cheaper while Wall Street is still raising forecasts aggressively.
And that is where the trap may lie.
A low multiple on peak-cycle earnings is not necessarily a discount.
Memory has been among the most cyclical businesses in semiconductors. Historically, these stocks can look cheapest precisely when profits are closest to their peak.
Supply eventually catches demand. Memory prices fall. Earnings estimates follow.
A stock that appeared to trade at six times earnings can suddenly look far more expensive once the denominator collapses.
Why AI Could Break the Old Memory Cycle
What makes this cycle unusual is the visibility companies are trying to build around those earnings.
If AI keeps memory demand structurally tighter than previous technology cycles, the earnings investors currently consider temporary may prove more durable.
That would make 6 times earnings unusually cheap.
SanDisk said its new business model agreements — multi-year supply contracts with fixed or floored pricing — should cover more than half of shipped bits in fiscal 2027 and roughly two-thirds in fiscal 2028.
The agreements carry $16.5 billion in financial guarantees.
Micron, meanwhile, has guided its current quarter to roughly $50 billion in revenue, following $41.46 billion in the quarter just reported and also indicated sixteen long-term agreements through 2030.
The Real Question Behind SanDisk and Micron
That makes SanDisk and Micron perhaps the clearest valuation test in the AI market today.
Investors have already rewarded the memory shortage. SanDisk is up 444% this year and Micron 216%.
Yet their valuations suggest Wall Street still refuses to treat those profits as permanent.
The next leg of the trade therefore depends less on whether AI demand remains strong. It depends on whether AI has finally changed the economics of memory.
If it has, the cheapest stocks in technology may also be among its most misunderstood.
Image: Shutterstock
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