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Have you heard of Ferdinand de Lesseps?
He was a French Orientalist diplomat who later developed the Suez Canal. But when he broke ground on the Suez in 1859, his skeptics dubbed it the most expensive ditch in history.
To be fair, the cost was astronomical. Lesseps’ project consumed $100 million in 1869 dollars, nearly double the original estimate, and bankrupted the French development company that built it.
But it didn’t matter who went broke building the Suez…
Once the canal was built, every ship crossing between Europe and Asia had exactly two options: The Suez Canal or bust.
The infrastructure created captive, permanent demand, and the companies supplying the coal, the dry-dock services, and the port operations on both ends collected tolls for the next century.
The bears calling tops on AI memory and cloud infrastructure are falling prey to the same blind spot. They’re watching the stock price rather than the $725 billion in hyperscaler capex that’s already been committed. Capital has to land somewhere, and that “somewhere” is increasingly SanDisk’s (SNDK) fabs and Nebius‘ (NBIS) data centers.
That’s the through line of , which we just debuted with a brand-new format. Our team has shortened the show, streamlined the topics of discussion, and built this episode of Being Exponential With Luke Lango around five stock stories.
More importantly, we’ll now have an extra podcast each week! Going forward, you can expect them in your inbox on Wednesdays and Fridays.
In the latest episode, we walk through Intel Corp. (INTC), Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR), Duolingo Inc. (DUOL), Nebius Group N.V, and SanDisk Corp.
We cover the bullish, the neutral, and the bearish.
But there’s two AI infrastructure names where the market keeps trying (and failing) to call the top…
Check out the podcast by clicking the video below:
Why SanDisk (SNDK) Keeps Defying the “Memory Top” Call
SanDisk’s chart is a museum of premature obituaries. Traders called the top in October 2025. Then again in February, followed by March, and early April. Each time, the stock pulled back hard, sometimes 25% or more, only to rip to new highs. The bear thesis is basically “memory is cyclical and cycles end.”
Yet, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) have guided to roughly $725 billion in 2026 AI infrastructure capex. This is a once-in-a-generation buildout, and a meaningful slice of every infrastructure dollar lands in the memory complex.
The valuation tells the story…
SanDisk stock has run from $50 to roughly $1,400, yet its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio sits near nine. The earnings are doing the lifting, as multiples haven’t expanded at all.
As long as that holds, SNDK stock has more room to run.
Nebius (NBIS): The Neocloud Nobody’s Talking 抖阴最新版… Yet
If SanDisk is the shovel, Nebius is the rented mule.
Spun out of the old Yandex tech assets after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nebius rebuilt itself as a “neocloud,” or a high-beta, levered play on the same hyperscaler capex wave.
The numbers are almost cartoonish: revenue is on pace to grow more than 500% this year, with margins climbing from roughly 40% to 59% by 2028. Yet the stock trades around 16 times forward EBITDA. Sixteen.
Technically, the chart just executed a textbook V-shaped recovery off its prior all-time high near $135, turning what was resistance into the new floor.
Both names share a pattern: violent, gut-wrenching pullbacks followed by face-ripping rallies.
SanDisk has fallen 25%-plus more than once this cycle. Nebius round-tripped from $90 to $166 and back to $135 in a matter of weeks.
Anyone trying to chase these stocks at the top got hurt.
Anyone who treated the dips as opportunities did very well.
What Else Is in This Week’s Episode?
The full episode goes deeper, including why we are bullish on Intel Corp.’s (INTC) turnaround, why Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) needs to retake its 200-day before we’ll touch it, and why Duolingo Inc. (DUOL) may be the poster child for the “SaaSmaggedon.”
Watch on YouTube to get the complete picture, including specific entry levels and the technical signals we’re watching before stepping in.
FAQ: AI Infrastructure Stocks in 2026
What are AI infrastructure stocks?
AI infrastructure stocks are companies that supply the physical hardware, cloud compute, and memory chips that power artificial intelligence systems. Think of them as the picks-and-shovels plays of the AI boom — they profit from the buildout regardless of which AI models win.
Why is SanDisk (SNDK) considered an AI infrastructure play?
SanDisk manufactures memory and storage solutions used in AI data centers. With hyperscalers guiding to $725 billion in 2026 AI capex, demand for high-bandwidth memory is structural, not cyclical. SanDisk trades at roughly nine times forward earnings despite massive revenue growth.
What is Nebius Group (NBIS)?
Nebius Group N.V. is a neocloud company spun out of the former Yandex technology assets. It offers high-performance cloud infrastructure for AI workloads and is growing revenue more than 500% year over year.
Is the AI infrastructure trade over?
Multiple pullbacks in 2025 and 2026 have led bears to call the top on AI infrastructure stocks. However, the $725 billion hyperscaler capex wave and still-compressed valuations (SanDisk at 9x forward P/E, Nebius at 16x forward EBITDA) suggest the structural buildout has further to run.
