Where Apple NASDAQ: AAPL signals that prices may have to rise because memory costs are rising, the market is paying attention. For investors who already own Micron Technology NASDAQ: MUSeagate Technology Holdings NASDAQ: STXWestern Digital Corporation NASDAQ: WDCand Sandisk Corporation NASDAQ: SNDKthat warning isn't a red flag—it's a confirmation of price strength.
Growth Investor's Louis Navellier sees all four names as direct beneficiaries of the same structural deficit, with one clear leader at the top of the stack.
When Price Power Meets a 2-Year Lag
Micron Technology Today
Micron technology
As of 06/26/2026 04:00 PM Eastern
- 52 week interval
- $103.38
▼
$1,255.00
- Dividend Yield
- 0.05%
- The P/E ratio
- 25.64
- Target Value
- $1,263.76
Micron's setup is straightforward: data centers want the fastest memory chips available, Micron makes them, and demand runs well ahead of supply. That's why analysts—who have historically been short on this stock—continue to revise ratings upward, and why the order backlog tells a more compelling story than the revenue line alone.
Navellier calls Micron something close to a monopoly in the data center memory segment. Samsung OTCMKTS: SSNLF it competes on volume, but for the hyperscalers that make up the AI infrastructure, Micron's high-bandwidth memory is the preferred option.
That preference translates directly to operating margins. When you have pricing power in a supply-constrained market, margins increase—and Micron does.
He ranks Micron high on his basic eight-factor model, which weighs sales growth, margin expansion, earnings stability, analyst reviews, and impressive track record. Recent upward revisions across the analyst community, he notes, are a reliable sign of things to come. Micron's last earnings report beat expectations in the past, and Navellier sees that pattern continuing—especially given that analysts in the space are notoriously conservative, punished more for overestimating than for being late.
The order backlog, which stretches about two to three years out, is driven by data center construction, which is why he doesn't consider this a late-moving trade. More than half of US construction work is currently tied up in data center construction, and anyone with chips has power.
Loyalty Plays in an Unfaithful Market
Seagate Technology Today
Seagate Technology
As of 06/26/2026 04:00 PM Eastern
- 52 week interval
- $138.30
▼
$1,145.00
- Dividend Yield
- 0.33%
- The P/E ratio
- 85.38
- Target Value
- $831.79
Not all data center storage decisions come down to the fastest chip. Reliability is critical—outage in a hyperscale environment is catastrophic—and it's where Seagate has built its reputation over decades of enterprise deployments.
Navellier calls Seagate his favorite name for the tight end on the team. Its data center business is growing rapidly as the transition from spinning hard drives to solid-state drives continues across enterprise deployments, and the company's reputation for bulletproof performance has made it a preferred vendor for operators who can't afford to fail.
That brand equity does real work in a market where purchasing decisions are driven by reliability records, not just spec sheets.
Revenue growth and acquisitions have been strong, and Seagate is doing well with its core model—albeit twice as much as Micron. That premium does not affect him. Storage has historically demanded higher valuations than DRAM, and Seagate's market position and switching costs warrant the spread. His stance: ride it as long as it holds the basics.
Western Digital and Sandisk: Strong Names, Slightly Low Scores
Western Digital and Sandisk both have reasonable exposure to the same AI storage offering. Navellier is careful not to dismiss it—comparing them negatively to Micron and Seagate, he says, is like being asked to choose his favorite child.
When pressed, he leans Sandisk over Western Digital on the basis of analyst review momentum, surprising earnings history, and path to margin expansion. But both words get his model right; they just scored less than the top two. Demand is strong enough for four to win at the same time—the difference comes down to who takes the most orders where speed and reliability are the deciding factors.
How to Think About Going in After a Monster Run
All four stocks posted extraordinary gains. That makes the entry feel uncomfortable, and Navellier agrees. His method: put them on a warning list and buy them every day rather than rushing. The natural oscillation of the memory sector means that stocks that use 12% will usually return 3-4% before the next leg—and those short windows are when they build or add positions.
For investors already in these names, the calculus is different. Navellier's rule for his portfolio is simple: if a stock is still performing well in the fundamentals—strong sales, expanding margins, positive reviews, impressive track record—the size of the dividend is not a reason to sell. Stocks that have performed 100%, 500%, or more in his portfolio are still there because the underlying businesses are not deteriorating. Profit is a feature, not a warning sign.
The wide back supports to stay engaged. Data center construction continues, demand for AI computing continues to grow, and the memory shortage driving Apple's price warning isn't a quarterly blip. The bottleneck that makes iPhones so expensive is the same bottleneck that makes these four stocks so hard to bet on.
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