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On July 21st, the three major U.S. stock indices opened higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.36%, the S&P 500 index gained 0.52%, and the Nasdaq index increased by 0.88%.
In terms of sectors, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged over 3%, with Intel rising more than 6%. Within the memory chip segment, SanDisk jumped over 9%, while Micron Technology and SK Hynix both gained more than 7%. Additionally, Dell, Seagate, and Western Digital saw increases exceeding 5%.
Memory Giants Advance HBM4 Yield Enhancement Strategies
Industry reports indicate that the three major memory giants—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron—are all implementing strategies to improve yields for HBM4. HBM4 is the sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory product, set to be integrated into products like Nvidia's AI accelerator chip Vera Rubin, scheduled for release in the second half of the year.
Among these three companies, Samsung Electronics was the first to achieve mass production of HBM4. As production lines transition to large-scale manufacturing, the rate of yield improvement has been significant. Some analysts believe Samsung's HBM4 yield has already reached approximately 70%. SK Hynix has not publicly disclosed specific HBM4 yield figures, but the industry generally assesses that its yields have also entered a stable range. To optimize HBM4 processes and expand production capacity, SK Hynix plans to introduce new production equipment and is currently negotiating equipment purchase orders for the second half of the year with several HBM equipment suppliers.
Micron lags behind the two Korean memory manufacturers in terms of production scale. Consequently, Micron is focusing intensely on accelerating yield improvements and capacity expansion. It is reported that Micron has initiated large-scale equipment investments to simultaneously advance yield enhancement and production ramp-up.
Another Addition to the Nvidia Portfolio
A filing disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reveals that Nvidia holds a 9.3% stake in Dutch AI cloud service provider Nebius. Following the news, Nebius's stock price surged significantly in pre-market trading on Tuesday and opened with a gain of over 8%.
Headquartered in Amsterdam, Nebius is a leading European AI computing power cloud provider. Benefiting from the explosion in AI computing demand, its stock price has accumulated a gain of nearly 250% over the past 12 months, with its market capitalization reaching $46 billion on the morning the news was announced.
Nvidia had previously announced a $20 billion investment in Nebius, with cooperation covering AI infrastructure construction, computing cluster operations and maintenance, inference services, and AI factory design and support. Nvidia continues to increase its equity stakes in top global AI companies. In March of this year, it invested $30 billion in OpenAI's $110 billion financing round, and in February, it participated in funding for Anthropic, consistently positioning itself in core assets within the AI sector.
JPMorgan Chase Issues Market Risk Warning
In a recent interview, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon cautioned that the market is significantly underestimating multiple global risks. At current prices, he would not buy into the broad U.S. stock market or long-term U.S. Treasuries. While acknowledging the resilience of the global economy and the long-term value of AI, he expressed a high degree of caution regarding asset valuations, fiscal issues, and geopolitical risks.
Dimon stated that against the backdrop of ongoing wars in Russia-Ukraine and the Middle East, and governments running high deficits with continued military spending expansion, multiple conflicts are converging. However, the market is only partially pricing in known risks and cannot predict the impact of sudden black swan events. While minor conflicts may not necessarily trigger a crisis, the accumulation of multiple negative factors could precipitate a market turning point.
Furthermore, the continuously expanding U.S. federal budget deficit will eventually trigger a market correction. Bond investors will demand higher interest compensation, pushing up long-term rates. Even if inflation falls back to the Federal Reserve's 2% target, the reasonable yield range for 10-year U.S. Treasuries should be 4% to 4.5%, leaving very little room for current Treasury prices to rise.
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