Memory and storage

Analysis and information

What this theme is

AI servers need large amounts of fast memory and storage. This theme covers the companies that make it. DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sit next to AI processors. NAND flash goes into solid-state drives. Seagate says hard drives carry the vast majority of exabytes shipped into large data centers.

Micron, SK hynix and Samsung make DRAM and HBM. Sandisk makes NAND flash. Seagate and Western Digital make hard drives. SK hynix and Samsung have no ticker pages here.

What we're seeing

• 2026-10-29: Sandisk's fiscal Q1 revenue rose 23% from the prior quarter to $11.03B, above its guidance, with Datacenter revenue of $4.80B. It guided fiscal Q2 to $12.2B to $12.6B.
• 2026-10-29: Samsung reported Q3 revenue of KRW 195.3 trillion and operating profit of KRW 107.4 trillion. Its chip division earned KRW 106.5 trillion of that profit. HBM4 sales scaled up significantly. Samsung expects 2026 capex of about KRW 84.4 trillion.
• 2026-10-28: SK hynix reported Q3 revenue of KRW 104.6 trillion and operating profit of KRW 83.3 trillion, an 80% margin. Long-term agreements with 14 major customers cover more than half of its 2027 and 2028 capacity. It expects HBM4 to pass HBM3E in volume and revenue in Q4, and its 2027 investment to rise significantly.
• 2026-10-27: Seagate's revenue rose 61% to $4.233B, and data center was 81% of it. Management said most nearline drive supply is allocated under long-term agreements through 2028.
• 2026-10-22: Western Digital's revenue rose 55% to $4.381B. It guided the next quarter to $5.1B.
• 2026-10-21: Micron reached a labor agreement with its union in Taichung, Taiwan. A dispute with a second union, in Taoyuan, is still open.
• 2026-09-30: Micron's fiscal Q4 revenue was $54.23B, and it guided fiscal Q1 to $61.5B. It has 26 multi-year take-or-pay customer agreements, which it estimates at over 35% of its revenue through 2030.
• 2026-09-30: TrendForce forecast Q4 contract prices up 10-15% for conventional DRAM and 15-20% for NAND from Q3. It expects the pace of increases to moderate.

What to watch

• Sandisk's fiscal Q2 against its $12.2B to $12.6B revenue guide.
• Contract prices, which TrendForce expects to keep rising at a slower pace.
• Contract coverage. Watch how much 2027 and 2028 supply is under long-term agreements at Micron, SK hynix and Seagate.
• Capital spending. SK hynix expects a significant rise in 2027 investment. Micron plans more fiscal 2027 capex than it planned before.

The peers

• MU makes DRAM, HBM and NAND flash. Micron
• STX makes high-capacity hard drives for cloud data centers. Seagate
• WDC makes hard-drive storage, mostly for cloud customers. Western Digital
• SNDK makes NAND flash and SSDs. Sandisk