7 Best Memory Stocks to Buy According to Analysts

In this piece, we discuss the 7 Best Memory Stocks to Buy According to Analysts.

Memory has emerged as one of the clearest winners from the artificial intelligence (AI) chip buildout. The oligopolistic memory market is led by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. These players control more than 90% of the DRAM market. On March 29, 2026, Counterpoint Research noted that the DRAM market recorded 30% quarter-over-quarter growth in Q4 2025, representing the second consecutive quarter of 30% QoQ growth amid increasing memory prices.

As training and inference workloads become more demanding, the appetite for high-bandwidth and advanced DRAM has grown accordingly, and the market has taken notice.

By March 2026, the story had moved beyond demand and into supply.

CNBC reported that the world’s leading memory producers were dealing with a market defined by tight supply and stronger pricing, with earnings coming in well above expectations. The message was straightforward: new capacity cannot be brought online quickly. Meanwhile, AI demand is not a temporary wave, CNBC further added. Instead, it appears to be rewiring industry fundamentals.

That thesis faced a real test on March 26, 2026, when CNBC reported that Google’s TurboQuant research rattled memory-chip stocks. The concern was simple. If AI models could be built to use far less memory, the demand story falls apart. Google said that TurboQuant, a new compression method, could reduce the memory required to run large language models by 6x.

But the selloff did not hold up under scrutiny.

Rather than signaling a simple collapse in demand, TurboQuant shifted the debate toward efficiency, architecture, and what the next phase of AI infrastructure may look like.

Against that backdrop, the memory stocks analysts favor most are those positioned to benefit from a market where AI is simultaneously squeezing supply, raising strategic value, and forcing investors to separate immediate volatility from the broader structural memory opportunity.

Our Methodology

To curate our list of the best memory stocks, we scanned financial media and stock screeners to identify memory-related stocks with upside potential exceeding 10%, as of April 20, 2026. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds.

To assess hedge fund sentiment, we used Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, which tracks more than 1,000 elite hedge funds as of the fourth quarter of 2025. We then ranked our final list in ascending order of upside potential.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).

7. Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)

Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) secures a spot on our list of the best memory stocks to buy according to analysts.

As of April 20, 2026, analyst sentiment on Western Digital Corporation remains strong, with 79% of covering analysts maintaining “Buy” ratings. The street-high price target of $440 implies about 18% upside from the current share price of $372.9.

Much of that optimism traces back to two things: pricing has improved, and demand for AI and cloud storage keeps climbing.

On April 17, 2026, BofA analyst Wamsi Mohan moved his price target on Western Digital Corporation from $375 to $415 and maintained a “Buy” rating. He pointed to strong memory demand that is feeding through to better pricing and gross margins. His note also flagged expectations that fiscal third-quarter revenue, margins, and EPS may land above the high end of guidance, with enterprise and nearline demand both pulling their weight.

Beyond the near-term numbers, Western Digital Corporation has been quietly building out its position in AI storage.

At its Innovation Day in February 2026, Western Digital Corporation walked through a roadmap that included 100TB-plus HDDs, 40TB UltraSMR customer qualifications, active HAMR work with hyperscalers, and technologies in development to increase bandwidth, reduce power consumption, and lower storage costs at AI scale.

That is what makes Western Digital Corporation fit the memory theme. Demand is improving and showing up in results today, while the roadmap has the company angled toward the next round of AI-driven data growth.

Western Digital Corporation is a data storage hardware and infrastructure company. It designs and manufactures a broad range of HDD and flash-based storage solutions, from high-capacity data center platforms and NAS systems to portable consumer drives. Its products provide the foundational infrastructure for managing and archiving digital data at scale.

6. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) secures a spot on our list of the best memory stocks to buy according to analysts.

As of April 20, 2026, Wall Street remained strongly positive on Applied Materials, Inc., with 81% of analysts covering the stock assigning “Buy” ratings. The highest price target on the Street stands at $500, which implies roughly 27.2% upside.

Applied Materials, Inc. picked up fresh Wall Street backing on April 13, 2026.

B. Riley analyst Craig Ellis took the firm’s price target to $485 from $450 and kept a “Buy” rating on Applied Materials, Inc.. His case rested on a better outlook for semiconductor capital spending from 2026 through 2028, as chipmakers keep putting money into advanced-node capacity to build more complex processors.

The company’s own management commentary lines up with that view.

Customers are moving faster on node migrations and taking on more complex 3D scaling technologies. Meanwhile, spending at the leading edge, in advanced packaging, and in memory, specifically DRAM and HBM, has stayed firm.

How customers are spending is also influencing Applied Materials, Inc.’s internal priorities.

In its Q1 2026 earnings call, management said R&D funding and capacity expansion in key product lines will continue. Applied Materials, Inc. is also working on its supply chain, adding supplier qualifications, dual-sourcing where possible, localizing certain components, and tightening up operations. The R&D agenda covers gate-all-around, backside power, advanced packaging, EUV-related adjacencies, new scaling materials, and AI-enabled metrology and inspection work.

One other detail from the call: Applied Materials, Inc. said its line of sight into HBM-related tool demand now extends across multiple quarters.

Applied Materials, Inc. is the global leader in materials engineering solutions, providing the equipment, services, and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips and advanced displays. They also enable chipmakers to create smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient electronics, serving as foundational technologies for AI and consumer electronics.

5. Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:SIMO)

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:SIMO) secures a spot on our list of the best memory stocks to buy according to analysts.

As of April 20, 2026, analyst sentiment on Silicon Motion Technology Corporation remains positive, with 100% of covering analysts maintaining “Buy” ratings. The Street-high price target of $180 implies about 29.5% upside from the current share price of $139.4.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation has had a strong year.

It is up over 54% in 2026 alone, leaving the broader semiconductor industry’s 17% gain well behind. Stretch that window out to twelve months, and the gap gets wider. The industry returned 120% over that period, while the stock returned over 256%.

On March 31, 2026, Heartland Advisors, an investment management company, laid out its case for Silicon Motion Technology Corporation in its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, arguing the stock still has room to run despite its recent rally. The fund said the stock contributed to its first-quarter outperformance and has recovered from last year’s selloff, which was driven by tariff fears, softening consumer spending expectations, and questions around hyperscaler capital spending.

Heartland’s conviction comes down to a shift in Silicon Motion Technology Corporation’s (NASDAQ:SIMO) business mix. The company has been moving away from trailing-edge, lower-margin consumer electronics and toward higher-margin, leading-edge applications tied to hyperscaler demand.

Management backed that story on the company’s fourth-quarter conference call, reaffirming its expectations for PC and smartphone markets while flagging data center storage components as a driver of meaningfully higher margins.

When Silicon Motion Technology Corporation was trading at $117, Heartland put a fair value at $185, based on 15x EBITDA plus a projected $160 million cash settlement from arbitration tied to MaxLinear’s terminated merger agreement.

That valuation case got additional support on March 16, 2026, when Silicon Motion Technology Corporation said it would showcase enterprise SSD controllers and PCIe NVMe BGA boot SSD solutions at NVIDIA GTC 2026. The company said its controller technology is becoming critical for deterministic latency, sustained bandwidth, scalability, and efficient data handling across storage workloads, as high-performance NAND storage tiers become increasingly important in large-scale computing infrastructure.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation develops and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, as well as SSDs, microSD, and embedded storage solutions, serving global consumer and enterprise markets.

4. Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX)

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) secures a spot on our list of the best memory stocks to buy according to analysts.

As of April 20, 2026, bullish analyst sentiment on the stock implies roughly 29.72% upside potential. According to analysts, Seagate’s bullish case rests on sustained data center demand for mass-capacity storage.

That is what stood out in BofA’s April 20, 2026, note, in which the firm raised its price target on Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) to $605 from $450 and maintained a “Buy” rating. The bank said continued strength in data center revenues should help absorb the usual March-quarter seasonality in edge IoT markets, and it now expects Seagate to report fiscal third-quarter revenue and EPS above Street expectations on April 28.

The latest analyst support, in other words, is rooted in the view that Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX)’s most important end market is holding up well enough to offset the softer demand elsewhere. Seagate’s own March 3, 2026, update adds weight to that view.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) said its HAMR-based Mozaic 4+ platform had cleared qualification and moved into production with two leading hyperscale cloud providers, reaching capacities of up to 44TB, with broader scale-up still underway. BofA’s confidence in near-term data center resilience, then, is not just an analyst call. It sits alongside tangible progress in Seagate’s hyperscaler-facing storage platform, built to handle data growth at scale.

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) is a data storage hardware and infrastructure company specializing in mass-capacity solutions. It designs and manufactures high-performance hard drives, solid-state drives, and edge-to-cloud platforms. By providing essential storage for everything from enterprise data centers to personal gaming rigs, it enables the secure management of massive digital footprints.

3. Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)

Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) secures a spot on our list of the best memory stocks to buy according to analysts.

As of April 20, 2026, sentiment on Lam Research Corporation remains firmly bullish, with 72% of covering analysts maintaining “Buy” ratings. The Street-high price target of $360 implies about 36.2% upside from the current share price of $264.2.

Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Lam Research Corporation to $260 from $254 on April 9, 2026, keeping an “Equal Weight” rating. The firm sees Lam putting up another solid quarter on the back of unusually strong DRAM demand. Morgan Stanley expects a June-quarter beat, though a narrower one than the 9% average by which Lam has surpassed Street estimates over the past five quarters. The bank said Lam should continue firing on all cylinders, with unprecedented DRAM pull-forwards and strong supply chain execution keeping things moving.

Lam Research Corporation is also pushing on the technology side with a longer-term play.

On March 10, 2026, IBM and Lam Research Corporation announced a five-year collaboration targeting new materials, fabrication processes, and High-NA EUV lithography for sub-1nm logic scaling. The two companies have worked together for over a decade, with that prior work feeding into advances across 7nm, nanosheet, and EUV technologies, including IBM’s 2nm chip unveiled in 2021.

The new program targets advanced etch and deposition, novel materials, next-generation interconnects, and device patterning, with the aim of validating full process flows for nanosheet and nanostack devices. Lam Research Corporation’s contribution includes technologies such as Aether dry resist, Kiyo and Akara etch platforms, and Striker and ALTUS Halo deposition systems.

Lam Research Corporation is a manufacturer and global supplier of semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The company specializes in thin-film deposition, wafer cleaning, plasma etching, and photoresist stripping. Its semiconductor equipment is also essential for manufacturing complex 3D-stacked HBM and NAND memory.

2. Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK)

Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) secures a spot on our list of the best memory stocks to buy according to analysts.

As of April 20, 2026, analyst sentiment on Sandisk Corporation remains strong, with 76% of covering analysts maintaining “Buy” ratings. The Street-high price target of $1,800 implies about 95.4% upside from the current share price of $921.

That bullishness has more behind it than a simple NAND recovery.

On April 17, 2026, BofA boosted its price target on Sandisk Corporation to $1,080 from $900 and maintained a “Buy” rating. The bank sees NAND pricing surging and thinks this cycle could run longer than usual. Supply is tight, more business is shifting toward data centers, and inference workloads are shaping up as a reliable medium-term demand driver. All of that adds up to a stronger earnings outlook for Sandisk in the near term, according to the firm.

Meanwhile, Sandisk Corporation is continuing to make moves on the technology front.

In February 2026, it teamed up with SK Hynix to push for standardization of High Bandwidth Flash (HBF) under the Open Compute Project, a joint effort aimed at building a next-generation memory solution purpose-built for inference workloads.

The BofA note addresses where Sandisk Corporation stands right now, with pricing and demand both working in the company’s favor. Meanwhile, the work on HBF with SK Hynix speaks to where it is trying to be down the road.

Sandisk Corporation is a semiconductor and flash storage hardware company.

1. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) secures a spot on our list of the best memory stocks to buy according to analysts.

As of April 20, 2026, Wall Street remains bullish on Micron Technology, Inc., with 92% of analysts covering the stock assigning “Buy” ratings. The highest price target on the Street stands at $1,000, implying roughly 123.2% upside from the current share price of $448.

On April 8, 2026, UBS raised its price target on Micron Technology, Inc. to $535 from $510 and held its “Buy” rating. Behind the move is a growing conviction that tighter memory pricing is working its way through to the bottom line.

Industry checks the firm conducted point to continued improvement in DRAM and NAND pricing, with high-bandwidth memory standing out as the area where margins are expected to move most. UBS also noted that Micron is in active talks with hyperscalers and original equipment manufacturers over long-term supply agreements, with volume commitments, prepayments, and defined pricing bands all on the table. Separately, checks suggest Micron Technology, Inc., along with SK Hynix and Samsung, is working to rebuild an HBM pricing premium that holds through calendar year 2027.

Micron’s own update at GTC 2026 on March 16, 2026, added weight to that picture.

Micron Technology, Inc. said it had started volume shipments of its 36GB 12-high HBM4 in the first quarter of calendar 2026 for NVIDIA Vera Rubin systems. The product runs at more than 11 Gb/s pin speeds and delivers over 2.8 TB/s of bandwidth, supporting a 2.3x bandwidth improvement and more than 20% better power efficiency than HBM3E.

Micron Technology, Inc. also shipped samples of its 48GB 16-high HBM4 and pointed to SOCAMM2 and its Gen6 SSD lineup as part of a broader push to anchor its position in next-generation computing infrastructure.

Micron Technology, Inc. provides innovative memory and storage solutions. It operates in four segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, Embedded Business Unit, and Storage Business Unit.

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