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MRVL vs. SNDK: Which AI Infrastructure Stock is a Better Bet?

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Key Takeaways

  • Sandisk is benefiting from AI-led data center spending as NAND and enterprise SSD demand accelerate.
  • SNDK's data center revenues rose 26% sequentially, driven by hyperscalers and AI training.
  • Sandisk's high bandwidth flash targets AI inference with lower latency and higher bandwidth.

Marvell Technology (MRVL - Free Report) and Sandisk (SNDK - Free Report) are key players in the technology infrastructure space that are riding the artificial intelligence (AI) wave. While Marvell Technology plays a key role in the custom silicon and data center connectivity space, Sandisk is a leading developer, manufacturer and provider of data storage solutions.

As the AI boom continues to drive growth for the companies providing logic, storage and processing solutions, the question remains: Which stock makes for a better investment pick today? Let’s dive into the fundamentals, valuations, growth outlook and risks for each company.

The Case for MRVL Stock

Marvell Technology’s custom AI silicon chips are experiencing massive traction among hyperscalers, which is evident in the high-growth rate of Data Center end-market revenues. Marvell Technology’s data center segment has experienced rapid growth in the past seven quarters. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Marvell Technology’s data center segment posted revenues of $1.52 billion, up 37.8% year over year, led by strong traction in custom XPU silicon, electro-optic interconnect products and next-generation switches.

These products have crucial applications in AI computation and networking across both hyperscale and enterprise spaces, with the AI wave nowhere near peaking, making them an indispensable part of MRVL’s growth story. As the hyperscalers are expanding AI clusters rapidly, the use of high-bandwidth interconnects, custom ASICs, PAM4/800G, and DCI is rising. As MRVL supplies these modules at scale, the company is expected to benefit from this trend.

Marvell Technology recently announced the acquisition of Celestial AI, which will speed up its momentum in the interconnect space as AI clusters grow more complex. Celestial AI’s high-performance photonic compute interconnect IP will position Marvell Technology at the heart of next-generation AI data center architectures. Marvell Technology has also partnered with industry leaders, including Amazon’s Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) and NVIDIA.

Marvell Technology has a multi-year strategic collaboration with AWS to supply connectivity products for AI and data-center workloads. Marvell Technology has also partnered with NVIDIA to integrate NVIDIA’s NVLink Fusion technology into MRVL’s custom cloud-platform silicon solution. These factors are likely to provide MRVL with long-term growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MRVL’s fiscal 2026 earnings has been pegged at $2.84, indicating year-over-year growth of 90%, which has been revised upward in the past 30 days.

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The Case for SNDK Stock

Sandisk is highly focused on bringing advanced storage technologies and broad flash storage products for AI workloads in data centers, edge devices and consumers. On the first quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call, Sandisk’s management noted that data center and AI infrastructure investments are expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2030, creating strong tailwinds for NAND and enterprise SSD demand.

Furthermore, Sandisk’s Data center revenues have picked up 26% sequentially, mainly due to AI-driven growth led by hyperscalers, NeoCloud providers, and OEM customers that are expanding storage deployments specifically to support AI training and inference pipelines. This segment will highly benefit from the demand for NAND products due to growing AI workloads.

As Sandisk’s customers across data center and the edge are demanding higher-performance AI inference storage, its high bandwidth flash (HBF) is positioned specifically for AI inference. Unlike high bandwidth memory, which is used in training, HBF targets lower latency, higher bandwidth and better power efficiency, serving inference at scale. Besides enterprise customers, Sandisk is also set to gain from AI’s growth in the consumer market.

AI-enabled PCs, Windows 11 refresh cycle and smartphones with on-device generative AI will be a driving factor for higher NAND content per device. These factors are likely to act as a tailwind for Sandisk in the long run. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SNDK’s fiscal 2026 earnings has been pegged at $12.59, indicating year-over-year growth of 321%, which has been revised upward in the past 60 days.

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Stock Price Performance and Valuation of MRVL & SNDK

In the past three months, MRVL shares have gained 4% compared with the surge of 157.5% in SNDK shares.

 

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

SNDK is trading at a forward sales multiple of 3.11X, way above its median of 2.76X. MRVL’s forward sales multiple sits at 7.46X,  higher than its median of 7.44X over the past year.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Conclusion: MRVL vs. SNDK

MRVL and SNDK are both gaining from the AI wave. MRVL carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while SNDK sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. Sandisk seems to be a better bet at present due to its explosive earnings growth outlook. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.


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