By Sushree Mohanty

While most artificial intelligence (AI) stocks continued to capture investors’ attention in May, two companies generated more buzz than almost any other. One delivered stunning results fueled by the AI infrastructure boom while the other captivated investors with a blockbuster IPO. Let’s find out if both are a buy in June.

AI Stock No 1: SanDisk

SanDisk (SNDK) began the month of May with an explosive third-quarter report that not only exceeded Wall Street forecasts but also revealed a fundamental shift in the company's business model.

SanDisk stock has soared an eye-popping 672.8% year-to-date, wildly outperforming the broader market gain.

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SanDisk's data center revenue exploded in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, surging 233% sequentially to $1.47 billion, making it the company's fastest-growing business segment. Its TLC-based enterprise SSD products, which are designed for performance-intensive computing workloads where speed and low latency are critical, drove the performance. Total revenue of $5.95 billion showed a remarkable 251% jump from the prior year, driven mostly by a shift toward higher-value customers and stronger pricing across the business. The company’s bottom-line growth was dramatic as well. Adjusted earnings per share climbed to $23.41, up from $6.20 in the second quarter and from a loss of $0.30 in the prior-year quarter. 

In the third quarter, SanDisk revealed that it has signed five multi-year partnerships so far that collectively include financial guarantees exceeding $11 billion. These arrangements, which Sandisk refers to as New Business Models (NBMs), are designed to provide customers with guaranteed supply while providing Sandisk with committed financial returns. In fact, three contracts signed during Q3 alone account for $42 billion in minimum contractual revenue. For a memory company, this kind of revenue visibility assures investors that it wasn’t just a one-off good quarter. 

With profitability improving and debt repayment nearly complete, SanDisk has now slowly started to return to shareholders with a new $6 billion share repurchase program. It generated $2.96 billion in adjusted free cash flow, also holding $3.74 billion in cash and cash equivalents on the balance sheet. SanDisk believes investors are underestimating the importance of NAND flash storage. The rapidly evolving AI systems are becoming more complex, necessitating the demand for high-performance storage, which strengthens the stock’s long-term investment case.

Overall, Wall Street has a consensus “Strong Buy” rating on SanDisk stock, with 18 out of the 22 analysts covering the stock strongly bullish about it. Meanwhile, one rates it a “Moderate Buy,” while three say it is a “Hold.” The stock has crossed its mean target price, but the Street-high estimate of $3,250 indicates the stock could gain as much as 82% from recent levels.

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AI Stock No. 2: Cerebras

AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems (CBRS) burst onto the public markets with one of the most closely watched IPOs of the year. The stock soared close to 68% during its first trading session on May 14, touching $311.07. However, shares have cooled, falling 24% since their first trading day. The company’s market cap now stands at $47 billion. Now, the question is whether Cerebras' explosive market debut was merely a product of AI enthusiasm or if it has the potential to become a significant player in the AI infrastructure boom.

Cerebras designs specialized computing systems built specifically for AI training and inference workloads. Its flagship technology is the wafer-scale engine, commonly known as the WSE. Traditional AI systems rely on thousands of graphics processing units, or GPUs, connected together in large clusters, such as Nvidia’s (NVDA). However, Cerebras transformed an entire silicon wafer into a single massive chip, resulting in the world's largest AI processor. The company claims that its systems can deliver significantly faster performance for certain AI workloads, which created the buzz that Cerebras could compete with Nvidia, the undisputed leader of the AI chip industry.

Nvidia continues to dominate AI infrastructure, maintaining a lead in software, hardware, developer adoption, and customer relations. Beating Nvidia in its own game might be a much harder task. However, if Cerebras' performance advantages prove useful in real-world deployments, it could strengthen its position within the broader AI computing market.

But it is not just its innovative technology that excited investors. According to the company's amended S-1 filing, revenue increased 76% year-over-year from $290.3 million to $510 million. Additionally, the company also reported net income of $237.8 million in 2025 compared to a net loss of $481.6 million in 2024. This combination of rapid revenue growth and improving profitability is difficult to ignore.

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