Micron, Sandisk, and SK Hynix: History Says This About the Memory Trio's Rally
Key PointsHistorically, memory markets face very big boom-and-bust cycles.
Over the past year, memory stocks have surged to unprecedented heights, driven by soaring prices, record-breaking gross margins, and substantial free cash flow. Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK), and SK Hynix (NASDAQ: SKHY), have all experienced exceptional growth. Micron has skyrocketed more than 700% in the last twelve months, while Sandisk has soared an astounding 3,400% during the same period. SK Hynix's shares in South Korea have also surged by 600% over the past year.
The current memory supercycle can be traced back to the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, which has created significant supply-demand imbalances. The memory market is segmented into two categories: DRAM (dynamic random access memory), utilized for short-term storage, and NAND (flash), which retains data for longer periods. Both types have witnessed exponential growth due to AI-related demand.
High-bandwidth memory (HBM) is currently the biggest driver in the market, as it is packaged with graphics processing units (GPUs) and other AI chips to minimize latency and power consumption. HBM has become a critical bottleneck in the AI industry, prompting the major DRAM manufacturers – SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron – to allocate most of their resources towards meeting the increasing demand. This surge in demand has resulted in a severe supply shortage across the entire DRAM market, leading to skyrocketing prices.
Written by urgent.news from Motley Fool's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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