Updated
Updated · Forbes · Aug 6
DDN Targets $1 Billion Revenue in 2026 as AI Supercomputer Demand Doubles Sales
Updated
Updated · Forbes · Aug 6

DDN Targets $1 Billion Revenue in 2026 as AI Supercomputer Demand Doubles Sales

2 articles · Updated · Forbes · Aug 6

Summary

  • DDN is on track to reach $1 billion in 2026 revenue, up from about $500 million in 2025 and $400 million in 2024, as AI supercomputer builders buy more high-speed storage software.
  • Nvidia helped unlock that surge after its own supercomputer storage failed under AI workloads; DDN’s systems became a long-term fix, and the company now also counts xAI and national governments as customers.
  • The pitch is efficiency: DDN says Nvidia servers costing roughly $500,000 can sit idle about two-thirds of the time without fast data flow, while its software lifts utilization and carries gross margins above 90%.
  • Blackstone bought a $300 million stake in January 2025 at a $5 billion valuation, giving DDN capital and access to a vast data-center client network as it battles rivals including Vast Data, Dell and NetApp.
  • The boom is spreading across AI infrastructure: SanDisk shares have jumped 3,100% in 12 months, Micron’s quarterly revenue hit $41.5 billion, and DDN is now exploring a 1.3-gigawatt Texas data center that could cost more than $60 billion.

Insights

How does a software company with ninety percent margins plan to fund a $60 billion mega data center without losing its independence?
Could the secret to unlocking the true power of AI lie not in faster chips, but in the invisible data highways feeding them?