SNDK, SKHY Stocks Gain After Launching New AI Memory Standard – Wall Street Hikes Price Targets

The HBF standard is designed to make it easier for AI systems using processors from different vendors to work together through a common memory architecture.

• The specification uses the open UCIe interconnect standard, reducing dependence on proprietary memory ecosystems.
• The announcement comes as major cloud providers invest in custom AI chips to diversify beyond a single provider.
• SK Hynix also received several bullish analyst initiations, with firms citing sustained AI-driven demand for memory through 2027.

Shares of Sandisk (SNDK) and SK Hynix (SKHY) rose in early morning trade on Tuesday after the companies unveiled the first industry standard for High Bandwidth Flash (HBF), a new memory technology that could make it easier for AI systems built around different chipmakers to work together.

SNDK stock rose as much as 2.3% in pre-market trade, while SKHY stock gained just under 2%. Retail sentiment around SNDK remained in ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past day, while sentiment around SKHY fell to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ territory over the past day. Chatter for both remained at ‘extremely high’ levels. 

The HBF specification, released through the Open Compute Project (OCP), is not a commercial product but an open blueprint for the next generation of AI memory. Developed by Sandisk and SK Hynix with contributions from Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google and AI chip startup Tenstorrent, HBF is designed to bridge the gap between ultra-fast but capacity-constrained High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and slower, high-capacity SSDs by using NAND flash optimized for much higher data transfer speeds.

Open Standard Could Make AI Hardware More Flexible

One of the biggest changes is that HBF adopts the Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) standard, allowing the technology to connect with processors from multiple vendors instead of relying on proprietary interconnects.

In practice, that means future AI servers could combine Nvidia (NVDA) GPUs with processors from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Intel (INTC), or custom AI accelerators while using the same memory architecture.

An open HBF standard could gradually reduce that dependence by giving hyperscalers and enterprise customers a common memory layer that works across multiple chip architectures. 

The shift comes as companies, including Google, Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Meta (META), invest billions of dollars in developing their own AI accelerators to reduce their reliance on Nvidia. At the same time, newer players and memory manufacturers, including China's CXMT, are racing to catch up in technologies such as HBM and advanced chip packaging.

Wall Street Sees Further Upside For SK Hynix

SK Hynix also received a slew of bullish calls from Wall Street on Tuesday morning. RBC Capital’s Srini Pajjuri initiated coverage with an ‘Outperform’ rating and a $200 price target. He stated that the current memory upcycle could run through 2027 as generative AI drives structurally stronger demand. 

Pajjuri added that SK Hynix’s leadership in high bandwidth memory (HBM) and predicted that HBM contract repricing in 2027 would be a key tailwind, helping offset any moderation in DRAM prices and closing the valuation gap with U.S. peers. 

Stifel gave SKHY stock a ‘Buy’ rating and $240 price target, calling DRAM “a vital component of AI hardware infrastructure” and stating that SK Hynix’s execution remains undervalued. William Blair also initiated at ‘Outperform’, noting that tight near‑term supply has tripled AI memory prices and pushed SK Hynix to record revenues and margins, with free cash flow projected to more than double by 2028.