Investing.com -- Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini raised price targets and estimates across several memory stocks ahead of Micron Technology’s upcoming fiscal second-quarter earnings, citing stronger pricing trends and improving demand dynamics across the sector.

Hosseini hiked forecasts and price targets for several memory chipmakers, including Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), Samsung Electronics, SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) and SK Hynix, as pricing for both DRAM and NAND memory is running above earlier expectations.

The analyst’s preferred names are Samsung Electronics and SanDisk, citing "regaining traction in Memory/Foundry" and "inference-driven workloads supporting higher caching content," respectively.

Hosseini said updated models now incorporate stronger pricing trends across memory markets. “DRAM and NAND ASPs quarter-to-date are tracking meaningfully above our January expectations,” he wrote, adding that the trend is expected to continue into the second quarter of 2026.

Hosseini raised the price target for Micron to $525 from $345 while maintaining a Positive rating. Samsung Electronics also saw its price target increased to 275,000 won from 235,000 won, while SK Hynix’s target rose to 1,050,000 won from 1,000,000 won. Hosseini kept Positive ratings on Micron, Samsung Electronics and SanDisk, and a Neutral rating on SK Hynix.

The analyst points to diverging price trends across memory products this year. He expects DRAM average selling prices to outperform NAND during the first half of 2026 but underperform in the second half.

Looking further ahead, Hosseini said the transition of AI workloads could influence future memory demand. He believes HBM4 may represent the peak in blended DRAM pricing and gross margins as AI investment gradually shifts toward inference workloads.

At the same time, he sees additional demand emerging from AI-related storage requirements. “KV-caching-related NAND demand—supported by the broader AI shift toward inference—will be incremental and could add >10% upside to total NAND bit demand,” Hosseini said.

The analyst also highlights increasing investment in manufacturing capacity across the memory industry. "There is clear acceleration in the construction of new memory clean-room facilities, with incremental wafer capacity expected to come online by early-to-mid-2027, contributing to a more balanced supply/demand environment by mid-2027."

Hosseini stressed that execution by management teams, particularly in preserving margins throughout the cycle, will remain key for valuations which have begun to contract since late 2025.