Shares related to the storage concept performed strongly on Thursday. By the midday close, Talong Co., Ltd. and ZW Microelectronics, Inc. surged by the 20% daily limit, while Ingenic Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and BIWIN Storage Technology Co., Ltd. rose over 10%.
Six major storage sector leaders with market capitalizations exceeding one hundred billion yuan, including GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc., Longsys Electronics Co., Ltd., Deming Electronic Co., Ltd., BIWIN Storage Technology Co., Ltd., Shannon Semiconductor Co., Ltd., and Puya Semiconductor Co., Ltd., saw their share prices reach all-time highs during the trading session.
Analyst Forecasts a More Potent and Extended Supercycle
In related news, the third-quarter financial report from memory giant Micron Technology showed revenue of approximately $41.46 billion, an increase of about 346% year-over-year, surpassing analyst expectations by around 16%. Non-GAAP adjusted earnings per share (EPS) grew over twelvefold to $25.11, exceeding expectations by more than 20%. The adjusted gross margin for the quarter reached 84.9%, more than double the figure from a year ago and also above expectations. Revenue, EPS, and gross margin all set new quarterly records, with growth accelerating from the previous quarter.
A recent research report suggests the current memory supercycle will be "higher and longer," with memory transitioning from a traditional cyclical commodity to a strategic core asset in AI infrastructure.
The report revised its forecast for the total addressable market (TAM) of the global memory sector upward by 37% to 53% for 2026 through 2028 compared to its March model, projecting the TAM to reach $1.7 trillion by 2028. DRAM market revenue is expected to jump from $143 billion in 2025 to $636 billion in 2026, reaching $1.237 trillion by 2028. NAND market revenue is projected to increase from $71 billion to $454.5 billion over the same period.
CPU Emerges as New Catalyst for Memory Demand
The most significant incremental update in the report's logic is that AI computing demand is accelerating its spread from GPUs to CPUs, with CPUs becoming a core catalyst for the next wave of memory growth.
In AI systems, while GPUs handle massive parallel computing, CPUs act as the scheduling hub for task orchestration, state management, API calls, and system coordination. Following the significant launch of the Vera CPU, the report forecasts sales of 600,000 units in 2026 and 3 million units in 2027. A single Vera CPU requires approximately 768GB or more of memory, meaning Vera CPUs alone are expected to contribute over 2.3 billion GB of new DRAM demand in 2027.
Consequently, the report raised its server DRAM demand forecast for 2027-2028 by 5%-22%, with over 60% of the upward revision attributed to incremental demand from AI servers. By 2028, AI CPU-related DRAM demand is projected to account for about 24% of total DRAM market demand, meaning nearly a quarter of global DRAM will originate from AI CPUs.
Simultaneously, the report again raised its HBM market size forecast for 2026-2028 by 17%-21%, primarily based on three reasons: ASIC demand far exceeding expectations, slower-than-expected HBM4 supply, and a longer-than-anticipated product lifecycle for HBM4E.
Regarding pricing, the report anticipates the blended average price for HBM will increase by 32% year-over-year in 2027, reaching a record high. Due to extreme supply chain tightness, HBM4E is expected to command a premium of up to 61% over HBM3E. Micron Technology's entire HBM capacity for 2026 has reportedly been pre-booked by a major customer, with suppliers currently only able to meet 50-60% of customer procurement demand.
Institutional Capital Flows Into Storage Stocks
Data shows that since early June, institutional funds have been net buyers of a group of storage concept stocks. Xiechuang Data ranked first with net institutional buying of 3.2 billion yuan, followed by C Zhenbao with net buying exceeding 3.1 billion yuan.
Stocks including Changchuan Technology, Huahong Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, Puya Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Dosilicon Co., Ltd., Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Giantec Semiconductor Corporation, Yoke Technology Co., Ltd., Huahai Qingke, Jingzhida, and Shannon Semiconductor Co., Ltd. saw net institutional buying ranging from 2.3 billion to 900 million yuan.
Upstream Equipment and Materials Seen as Beneficiaries
From a domestic perspective, expansion by local wafer fabs and domestic innovation may be forming a synergistic effect. Micron Technology's increase in its full-year capital expenditure to the $27 billion level to advance process nodes and HBM capacity expansion represents a significant commitment by overseas giants. Domestic players like Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd., ChangXin Memory Technologies, Inc., and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation are similarly entering an accelerated expansion phase. The market share for domestic equipment is forecast to reach 32%, 36%, and 40% from 2026 to 2028. Breakthroughs continue in areas supported by major national funds, technological self-reliance, etching, thin-film deposition, CMP, coating/developing, and metrology/inspection. The dual drivers of the global AI expansion cycle and the domestic innovation process form the current investment thesis for the semiconductor equipment sector.
One securities firm stated that AI demand is boosting memory requirements. Overseas original equipment manufacturers are focusing on high-value-added server products, creating opportunities from demand spillover and localization needs, opening windows in the domestic enterprise market and increasing penetration with mobile phone brands. As the industry chain undergoes restructuring, domestic memory manufacturers have the potential to enter a positive cycle of "profit growth—accelerated customer adoption—product mix upgrade" during the upturn. Furthermore, as overseas players exit certain segments, domestic niche memory manufacturers are poised to capture demand红利 in markets like 2D NAND and niche DRAM. With current industry景气度持续, attention is advised on memory module manufacturers and niche memory players.
Another securities firm indicated that the importance of the domestic substitution theme has further increased, with upstream equipment and materials expected to continue benefiting. As the national integrated computing power network construction progresses, the importance of self-reliance in computing infrastructure is heightened. Against the backdrop of persistent external uncertainties and restricted supply of advanced chips and key equipment/materials, the demand for domestic substitution in computing chips, memory, semiconductor equipment, and core materials becomes more pronounced. Semiconductor equipment and materials, as crucial支撑环节 for wafer manufacturing and advanced packaging, are key beneficiaries of the ongoing domestic substitution trend.
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