AI computing power demand boosts storage chip stocks, GigaDevice's Hong Kong stocks surge over 8%

Cailian Press, February 24 (Editor: Hu Jiarong)
Benefiting from positive news in overseas markets, Hong Kong storage concept stocks are rallying. As of press time, GigaDevice (03896.HK) rose 8.44%, and Lankiu Technology (06809.HK) increased 0.30%.

Notably, leveraged ETFs linked to Korean storage giants performed even better—Southbound Eastbound doubled long Hynix (07709.HK) up 8.58%, and Southbound Eastbound doubled long Samsung Electronics (07747.HK) up 5.39%.

Key Signal: Hynix Officially Signals Industry Reshuffle

At the virtual investor conference held by Goldman Sachs on February 20, SK Hynix management issued a key judgment: the global memory chip industry has fully shifted into a seller’s market. The company clearly stated that current DRAM and NAND flash inventory levels are only about four weeks’ worth, at historic lows, and “all customer demands cannot be fully met.”

Due to limited physical space expansion in wafer fab cleanrooms, capacity elasticity has significantly narrowed. SK Hynix revealed that high-bandwidth memory (HBM) capacity for 2026 is fully sold out; standard DRAM supply remains tight, and OEM bargaining power has greatly increased. The industry chain upstream and downstream are accelerating long-term contract negotiations, with customers actively seeking to lock in future supplies to hedge against shortages.

Based on the dual effects of rigid demand driven by AI computing infrastructure and supply-side constraints, SK Hynix predicts that memory chip prices will rise quarter by quarter in 2026. The supply-demand imbalance has evolved from a temporary phenomenon to a structural feature, with solid fundamentals supporting price increases.

AI Demand and Capacity Bottlenecks Reinforce Each Other

The reshaping of the global memory supply-demand landscape stems from two logical factors:

Demand side: Overseas cloud service providers (CSPs) continue to ramp up AI infrastructure, with expansion in training and inference scales directly boosting shipments of DRAM, HBM, and enterprise SSDs;

Supply side: Long construction cycles for cleanrooms, cautious capital expenditure, and increased share of high-value products (such as HBM) further raise industry average selling prices and technological barriers.

The widening supply-demand gap enhances the bargaining power of suppliers within the industry chain.

Institutional View: Cycle Intensity and Duration May Exceed Expectations

Ping An Securities’ electronics team notes that the industry is at a critical point of technological upgrade and demand explosion. The high prosperity of AI has medium- to long-term sustainability, and with product structures shifting toward high-value segments, the strength and duration of this memory upcycle are expected to surpass historical averages. The team recommends focusing on leading companies with technological barriers, customer resources, and capacity guarantees, while also leveraging market sentiment to seize short-term trading opportunities.

Overall, under the combined influence of rigid AI computing demand growth and physical capacity constraints, the memory chip industry has established a medium- to long-term upward cycle.