Updated
Updated · The Motley Fool · Aug 23
Sandisk Jumps 3,400% as AI Memory Shortages Lift Micron and SK Hynix
Updated
Updated · The Motley Fool · Aug 23

Sandisk Jumps 3,400% as AI Memory Shortages Lift Micron and SK Hynix

3 articles · Updated · The Motley Fool · Aug 23

Summary

  • Sandisk has surged 3,400% in the past year, while Micron gained more than 700% and SK Hynix rose 600% as AI-driven memory demand fueled a sector-wide rally.
  • HBM demand for AI GPUs has become a key bottleneck, pushing SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron to prioritize DRAM capacity and leaving the broader DRAM market short of supply and facing sharply higher prices.
  • NAND is also tightening because memory makers cut flash output after the post-pandemic crash, then shifted resources toward DRAM and HBM even as AI data centers increased demand for enterprise SSDs.
  • This cycle may last longer than past booms because AI infrastructure spending is still accelerating, new clean-room capacity takes time to build, and producers have secured unusually long-term contracts.

Insights

Memory stocks historically always crash, so will unprecedented long-term AI contracts truly kill the semiconductor boom-bust cycle for good?
With hyperscalers hoarding AI memory until 2030, could alternative architectures like CXL suddenly crash the ongoing trillion-dollar HBM monopoly?