- Before the U.S. stock market opens, the storage chip sector is generally strengthening, with SanDisk (SNDK:NASDAQ) once rising over 3%, accompanied by gains in Micron Technology (MU:NASDAQ), Western Digital (WDC:NASDAQ), and Seagate Technology (STX:NASDAQ). The market's main trading focus has returned to "storage shortages and price increases driven by AI."
- According to sources, the market has circulated that Samsung Electronics has completed its second-quarter DRAM price negotiations with major clients, with an average increase of about 30%, covering HBM and general DRAM for servers, PCs, and mobile devices. This aligns with a recent Reuters report suggesting "Q2 DRAM contract prices continue to rise, and the industry is in a supercycle."
- From an industry perspective, Samsung's first-quarter profit estimate shows significant growth, driven primarily by AI-induced increases in storage chip prices and a consistently tight supply. Meanwhile, Sandisk has spun off and independently listed, with the current trading symbol SNDK.
- In pre-market trading, the storage chip sector is collectively recovering, reflecting capital's re-pricing of the more critical profitability factor of "price rather than shipment volume." For storage manufacturers, as long as DRAM and HBM contract prices remain high, profit flexibility tends to overshadow market concerns about short-term fluctuations. On April 3, Reuters reported that Samsung Electronics' first-quarter operating profit is estimated to reach 40.5 trillion KRW, nearing the total profit for the previous year, primarily due to the AI boom driving up storage prices.
Pre-Market Movements
Looking at the stock structure, this round of gains is not solely focused on DRAM manufacturers. Micron, as a core proxy for storage chip market sentiment, typically benefits most directly from contract price increases; SanDisk and Western Digital are more aligned with improved expectations for NAND and enterprise storage demand; although Seagate primarily focuses on mechanical hard drives, it also benefits under the backdrop of AI data center expansion and increased capital expenditure in enterprise storage, aligning with the narrative of "capacity demand revision upwards." If the pre-market gains extend into regular trading hours, the sector's trading focus may continue to shift from "efficiency concerns" to "supply-demand imbalance."
Price Catalysts
It is essential to differentiate that the user-provided "Samsung's Q2 DRAM average price increase of about 30%" is market chatter, as Reuters has not confirmed this specific figure in public reports. However, Reuters has clearly reported that Q2 DRAM contract prices are expected to rise further, with TrendForce data indicating a quarterly DRAM price increase of 90% to 95%. This means 30% appears more like "continued growth" on a high base rather than a new round of supply-demand reversal.
Risk Warning
Recently, storage stocks have also adjusted due to news about technologies like Google TurboQuant improving memory efficiency. However, some analysts believe that efficiency gains may not necessarily weaken demand; instead, it could potentially lead to broader AI deployment due to lower system costs. If Samsung, SK Hynix, or Micron continue to confirm tight HBM and server DRAM supply, the sector's valuation might regain support. If cloud providers' capital expenditure slows down, the persistence of this pre-market rebound still requires observation. The latter half of the above analysis is based on current industry chain information deduction.
