>Two months after its March earnings call, Micron is turning more upbeat on its outlook, while providing additional details on its custom HBM development progress. At the J.P. Morgan 54th Annual Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference, Micron’s Global Operations EVP Manish Bhatia, via STOCK Analysis transcript, said the company’s first HBM4E will be a JEDEC-standard product, with ramp-up scheduled for 2027.

Improving Outlook vs. Previous Earnings Call

According to Bhatia, Micron now expects tight conditions across HBM, DRAM, and NAND to persist well beyond 2026. Thus, he noted that the financial outlook has strengthened since the company’s last earnings call, and it is on track for another substantial record free cash flow in fiscal Q3.

Notably, Bhatia pointed out that while pricing has largely played out as expected, demand remains very strong. He added that the AI ecosystem is shifting from human interactions to agentic and even machine-to-machine workflows, with these agentic workloads increasingly driving inference demand. As inference takes up a larger share of workloads, memory is increasingly seen as a strategic asset for customers, he said.

Against this backdrop, Micron said in March that it had secured its first strategic customer agreement—a five-year deal with a large customer. Since then, the company has made meaningful progress on additional SCAs, with other customers also showing strong interest in establishing similar strategic relationships with Micron, including in NAND, Bhatia said.

India Capacity Reported Booked up

Amid tight demand, Bhatia also said Micron’s global expansion is accelerating. He noted that its Idaho 1 site is progressing well, with the company pulling forward its wafer output timeline from the second half of 2027 to mid-2027.

Surging memory demand is also driving ramp-up at Micron’s new semiconductor assembly and test facility in Sanand, Gujarat, which began operations in late February. In a separate report by Business Standard, Micron’s entire memory production capacity in India has been fully booked amid strong demand.

According to a previous Business Standard report, at full capacity, the facility could account for up to 10% of Micron’s global output, supplying both domestic and international markets.

Sumit Sadana, executive vice-president and chief business officer at Micron, reportedly told Indian media outlet The Economic Times that the global semiconductor memory shortage triggered by the AI boom is proving far more severe than many companies currently anticipate, with the crunch potentially extending well beyond 2028 despite aggressive capacity expansion across the industry.

Source

>Micron is reportedly hiring Seoul-based HBM design architects as Samsung faces ongoing labor-management tensions. According to Business Korea, sources say Micron recently launched recruitment efforts in Korea for HBM design roles, including “Staff HBM Design Architect” and “Principal HBM Design Architect,” with positions based in Seoul.

>As the report indicates, the roles focus on next-generation HBM development, covering DRAM circuit design, optimization of power, area, and speed, as well as architecture review and function verification. In the job postings, Micron said the positions aim to develop HBM solutions for AI, machine learning, and high-performance computing applications. The report adds that recruited personnel will also contribute to core AI memory technologies, including Through Silicon Via (TSV)-based 3D stacking, power optimization, and high-speed interfaces.

>The qualifications target high-level memory design talent. Staff-level roles require a related bachelor’s degree and at least three years of semiconductor design experience, while Principal-level positions require five to seven years of circuit design experience depending on degree level, the report adds.

>Regarding compensation, industry sources say annual pay based on U.S. standards is estimated at around KRW 100 million to KRW 150 million (approximately US$66,670–100,000 at a KRW 1,500/USD exchange rate) for Staff-level roles, while Principal-level positions can reach roughly KRW 300 million including performance-based compensation. Additional bonuses and stock incentives are also offered, the report notes.

Full article

>DRAM Spot Price: This week’s DDR5 spot market remained active, with notable inquiries for branded chips. Suppliers repeatedly raised their quotes, while buyers, under pressure to replenish inventory for urgent orders, proactively raised their target purchasing prices. In the DDR4 segment, market activities have been sluggish, with most buyers adopting a wait-and-see approach. Due to weak procurement momentum and limited actual demand, the overall spot price trend for DDR4 has been volatile. The mainstream chip DDR4 1Gx8 3200MT/s recorded a price decrease of 0.62% (from US$32.2 to US$32.0).

>NAND Flash Spot Price: The spot market remains lethargic in purchase sentiment. Small-capacity MLC products, due to clearer demand, have seen more transactions. Successive finalization on talks for some of the contract prices for 2Q26 at a rather high increase has encouraged a slight rise in quotations. Spot prices of 512Gb TLC wafers climbed by 0.81% this week, arriving at US$20.707.

Small continued increases for the week which is likely to be impacted further by the potential strikes from Samsung if it goes ahead.

MLC NAND +7%~, SLC NAND +2%~ while DDR5 is +2%~.

Full article

>The first pictures of Intel's Crescent Island PCIe accelerator's PCB have been leaked by YuuKi_AnS. Crescent Island is the latest and upcoming Inference accelerator designed for AI workflows, offering competitive value.

>Surrounding the GPU are 12 sites for the memory, which are much smaller than standard GDDR modules. This is due to the fact that Crescent Island features LPDDR5X memory & is designed to be a cost-effective option versus the more expensive HBM standards. There are 12 sites on the front & 8 sites on the back for a total of 20 LPDDR5X sites, totalling up to 160 GB capacity. That's 8 GB per module.

>The new data center GPU code-named Crescent Island is being designed to be power and cost-optimized for air-cooled enterprise servers and to incorporate large amounts of memory capacity and bandwidth, optimized for inference workflows. Key features include:

• Xe3P microarchitecture with optimized performance-per-watt
• 160GB of LPDDR5X memory
• Support for a broad range of data types, ideal for “tokens-as-a-service” providers and inference use cases

>Leveraging LPDDR5X memory can give Intel a big edge in the cost/performance segment. Furthermore, the architecture will support a broad range of data types that are ideal for "Tokens-as-a-service" providers and inference use cases.

Intel's upcoming data center and workstation GPU made for AI inference workflows will have 160GB of LPDDR5X which further puts demand and stress on the ongoing memory crisis, especially as more chip designers constantly need more memory for their products to keep up with the competition, workloads and the industry itself.

Full article

>Global technology companies including Nvidia and Amazon are advancing a new storage architecture that allows graphics processing units (GPUs) to directly control storage devices such as solid-state drives (SSDs), a shift that industry experts say could pave the way for the era of high-bandwidth flash (HBF) beyond high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

>Song Ki-hwan, a professor in the Department of System Semiconductor Engineering at Yonsei University, said at the 2nd Semiconductor Device Frontier Summit on Sunday that Nvidia plans to introduce a GPU-Initiated Direct Storage Access (GIDS) architecture beginning with its Vera Rubin AI computing platform. "Nvidia is adopting a GIDS structure that advances beyond GPU Direct Storage," Song said. "It enables GPUs to retrieve data directly from storage and effectively opens an entirely new market."

>The emergence of GIDS could significantly expand the role of storage while reducing pressure on HBM capacity. At the same time, it would require higher-performance NAND flash capable of matching GPU processing throughput. One proposed solution is high-bandwidth flash, or HBF — NAND flash vertically stacked in a structure similar to HBM and interconnected through through-silicon vias (TSVs). Compared with conventional NAND, HBF offers substantially improved bandwidth, operating speed and memory capacity.

>NAND flash also delivers roughly 30 times greater bit density per unit area than DRAM. According to Song, combining six HBF units with two HBM units in a GPU package could increase total memory capacity more than sixteenfold compared with an eight-HBM-only configuration. Memory capacity could rise from 192 gigabytes to 3,120 gigabytes, enabling AI systems to run models with parameter sizes roughly 16 times larger than current architectures.

>Still, NAND flash has endurance limitations. Unlike DRAM, which can theoretically endure near-unlimited write cycles, NAND flash typically supports only around 100,000 write-and-erase cycles. As a result, HBF is viewed as most suitable for storing AI model parameters rather than frequently rewritten workloads. Parameters form the core framework of AI models and account for the majority of data volume handled by AI systems. Once fixed during training, they remain largely unchanged during inference, making them effectively read-only workloads that minimally affect NAND lifespan.

HBF is still in development (SNDK and SK have been co-developing it), so it's not officially adopted or used by any vendors/customers yet but is slowly gaining more traction and attention in the industry lately for its potential use cases alongside HBM - they said it'll work alongside it and not replace it.

Good sign for SNDK.

Full article

>Several Taiwanese memory module manufacturers, including Adata and TeamGroup, are collectively raising more than NT$28 billion (approximately $880 million) through convertible bonds, syndicated bank loans, and private share placements to fund chip purchases, according to a report from Taiwan's Commercial Times. The fundraising reflects how expensive it has become for downstream companies to maintain adequate inventory as DRAM and NAND flash contract prices continue to rise quarter after quarter.

>Adata is the largest single borrower in the group, having completed a NT$2 billion convertible bond issuance and secured NT$12 billion in bank loans, and is planning a 30 million-share private placement, per the outlet’s reporting.

>GoldKey Technology raised NT$4.5 billion through a combination of bonds and loans, while Team Group and Apacer completed NT$2 billion and NT$1 billion convertible bond issuances, respectively. Innodisk and Transcend are each planning NT$3 billion in convertible bonds, and Silicon Power is preparing a NT$500 million issuance.

>Fundraising efforts are being driven by the sheer cost of maintaining chip inventory during a sustained price surge. Adata chairman Simon Chen told the Taipei Times in March that the company had accumulated NT$30 billion worth of chip inventory by the end of February and was targeting more than NT$35 billion by the end of March. He also said cloud service providers had recently approached Adata to sign long-term supply agreements, which he described as "a rare occurrence."

Major independent memory module brands are going to extreme lengths just to be able to afford and secure wholesale DRAM chips from manufacturers like Micron due to the ongoing shortage and price increases. Good for MU.

And we have another point made by a memory module brand that LTAs are becoming more common.

Full article (EN)

Original source (CN)

>ADAS rising demand - Modern electric vehicles use centralized electronics for infotainment and self-driving features, meaning the average connected car in 2026 will need about 278 gigabytes of memory to support up to 100 million lines of code. Cars with Level 3 or 4 self-driving features need even more, with some systems using over 300 gigabytes of DRAM alone.

>Automotive memory has to pass strict AEC-Q100 tests to ensure it works in extreme temperatures and vibrations, a certification process that can take up to two years and prevents automakers from quickly switching to untested supplies

>EU safety escalates RAM needs - The memory shortage coincides with a period of increasing architectural complexity in the automotive industry, driven in part by stringent new safety regulations in Europe. The European Union’s General Safety Regulation mandates that all new motor vehicles sold in the EU must be equipped with a series of advanced driver assistance systems from July 2024, including intelligent speed assistance, advanced emergency braking, lane change warning, and event data recorders.

>These systems have to monitor driver behavior and interpret road signs, which requires processing data in real time using local memory. Because the law now mandates these memory-intensive systems in all new cars, demand for automotive-grade semiconductors in Europe has increased.

>In an email exchange with EE Times, Edward Wilford, senior research director for Automotive at Omdia, detailed these distinctions, stating, “The main difference is that 2021 was a finite event affecting everyone—2026 is a dramatic market shift into a new direction.” He said this transition reflects a broader industry pivot toward devices with higher memory requirements and added that, as manufacturers seek to maximize returns on capital investments, a quick resolution is unlikely.

>Gartner senior director analyst Masatsune Yamaji told EE Times that the technical details vary, noting, “The difference this time is that the current shortage is of commodity memory, whereas the semiconductor shortage in 2021 began mainly with legacy semiconductors and then spread to a wider range of semiconductor products.”

Something slightly different this time which gets less attention and publicity but demands memory too (and lots of it) - automotive/EVs. Those working in these industries fully acknowledge the importance of memory for their businesses and its ongoing shortage this time isn't cyclical anymore as we may have traditionally seen in the past, such as back in 2021.

They're also demanding more of it not just for safety regulations, but for advanced driver assistance systems and then there's the general topic of autonomous driving and other AI-assisted technology on the roads which again all need DRAM to function.

Full article

>The industry believes it has entered the age of agentic AI, in which systems autonomously perform tasks without human intervention. The trend has driven excess demand for semiconductors including CPUs, DRAM and NAND memory. The next phase, known as physical AI, is also expected to emerge as AI becomes integrated into the real world through robots, autonomous vehicles and other systems that require significantly larger volumes of semiconductors. Applied Materials expects these changes to create structural growth that continuously drives equipment demand at current elevated levels.

>Beyond new fab construction, Applied Materials also expects structural changes in DRAM technology — including the transition to 3D DRAM — to further increase demand for semiconductor process equipment. One example is the adoption of advanced epitaxy technology in CMOS logic circuits. Epitaxy is a process that forms high-quality semiconductor layers on wafers by arranging atoms along specific crystal lattice directions. The resulting high-purity single-crystal layers are suited for high-speed, low-power transistors. In DRAM and NAND flash memory, CMOS logic is used in peripheral circuits controlling memory cells.

>The company also expects long-term memory architecture transitions to become a major tailwind. Applied Materials said today's 6F² DRAM structures are expected to evolve toward 4F² architectures and eventually 3D DRAM, increasing materials intensity over time. "F" refers to the minimum feature size achievable in a given semiconductor manufacturing process. In a 6F² structure, each memory cell forms a rectangle measuring 3F by 2F, while 4F² structures form square-shaped cells measuring 2F by 2F. Transitioning to 4F² theoretically allows 30% to 50% more cells to fit within the same chip die area.

Agentic AI transitioning to robotics, EVs, autonomous vehicles, space, biotech/medical and even the defense/military industries is going to further ramp up the need for the fastest and most energy efficient memory in the years to come due to these evergrowing sectors all fighting for their share of DRAM too.

MU to continue benefitting this ongoing and future demand through the next decade.

Full article

>As per Citrini Research, it is estimated that NVIDIA's Rubin AI platform alone is going to outstrip both Samsung's and Apple's DRAM demand in 2027. Rubin is just one platform, and the same can be seen across upcoming hyperscalers, where LPDDR demand has grown exponentially as model sizes continue to grow.

>In 2027, NVIDIA's Rubin AI platforms are estimated to gobble up over 6000 Million GBs worth of LPDDR memory. LPDDR memory is the go-to standard for AI servers as its high capacity, compact layout, & low-power characteristics make it ideal for such applications. For 2027, Apple is estimated to be the leading LPDDR DRAM buyer for its iPhones with a demand of 2966 Million GBs, followed by Samsung, which has an estimated demand of 2724 Million GBs in LPDDR DRAM.

>Both Apple and Samsung will have a combined (Estimated) demand of 5720 Million GBs worth of DRAM. This means that NVIDIA's Vera Rubin AI racks will have a 6% higher demand.

>Meanwhile, AMD's MI400 & other Agentic AI-aimed platforms will further raise the demand for LPDDR memory. Currently, LPDDR5 & LPDDR5X solutions are being optimized for upcoming servers, with Micron already introducing its 256 GB LPDDR5X SOCAMM2 memory. SK Hynix is also mass producing 192 GB LPDDR5X SOCAMM2 memory for NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform.

>On the AMD front, the AI-Specific Verano CPUs and MI455X chips for Helios racks will also feature support for LPDDR5X memory, further straining the DRAM supply chain. Samsung, SK Hynix, & Micron have gone all-in on the latest LPDDR standards, boosting their production to meet the demand of the next-generation AI ecosystem. At the same time, this massive demand will likely not be fulfilled with the current production capacities; as such, newer facilities are being constructed to narrow down the supply-demand gap.

Another positive outlook for MU as NVIDIA/AMD's demand for LPDDR is only going up (and they constantly need more of it than anyone too, it's not slowing down).

Data - https://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/LPDDR-Memory-Demand-2027.jpg

Full article

>Surging mobile DRAM contract prices in 2Q26 continue to place even greater cost pressure on smartphone brands, according to TrendForce's latest memory market research.

>The two major Korean suppliers may have adopted different pricing strategies: Samsung Electronics is pursuing a more aggressive one-step pricing approach with sharper increases, while preliminary quotations from SK hynix indicate relatively milder hikes through a gradual price-raising strategy, with final pricing expected to be completed in late May. 

Beneficial and positive signs for MU.

LPDDR5X (and memory in general) is also required for smartphones, tablets, laptops and other consumer electronics devices we're all using on a daily basis and not just for NVIDIA's products used across data center servers and local AI hardware.

Original source

>AI inference using modern models requires billions of parameters, and moving them to where they can be consumed requires time and energy. A new effort to standardize a high-bandwidth version of flash memory proposes to keep those parameters much closer: inside the package with the GPU.

>Flash is known for high capacity and data that requires no refresh. But its performance has been no match for high-speed computing. To address this, Sandisk has proposed a 16-die-plus-base-die flash stack that fits the same footprint as HBM, although with a different interface protocol, named high-bandwidth flash (HBF).

>“HBF was announced by Sandisk in 2025 to utilize flash for high bandwidth, high-capacity memory, targeting AI inference applications,” said Xi-Wei Lin, executive director, applications engineering at Synopsys.

>This could make it possible to store all parameters right next to the GPU, with no need for them to leave the package, as the read speed is optimized to ensure quick retrieval.

>“HBF is gaining attention as system designers look for ways to improve data storage and access, for example, with new memory tiers that sit between DRAM and traditional NAND,” said Steven Woo, fellow and distinguished inventor at Rambus.

>Working with SK Hynix, Sandisk has submitted the technology to the Open Compute Project (OCP) for standardization.

>“Sandisk plans first samples of HBF in the second half of 2026 and expects the first inference devices using HBF to sample in early 2027,” Woo noted.

I noticed there's been some questions around HBF and its future, so I came across an article from yesterday that walks us through what this new technology is and how SanDisk and SK Hynix are involved with it.

Original source

>The global high bandwidth memory market size was valued at USD 2.95 billion in 2025. The market is projected to grow from USD 3.73 billion in 2026 to USD $24.81 billion by 2034, exhibiting a CAGR of 26.71% during the forecast period.

>High Bandwidth Memory Market Trends indicate rapid evolution toward higher stack densities and improved thermal performance. Manufacturers are advancing multi-layer stacking techniques to increase bandwidth while maintaining energy efficiency. The High Bandwidth Memory Market Analysis shows growing alignment between HBM development and artificial intelligence acceleration needs, particularly for large language models and deep learning frameworks.

>Another major High Bandwidth Memory Market Insight is the increasing integration of HBM with advanced packaging technologies such as chiplets and 2.5D interposers. These approaches allow closer coupling between processors and memory, enhancing system-level performance. Demand from data centers and supercomputing environments continues to shape design priorities. Additionally, networking and edge computing workloads are driving interest in lower-latency memory solutions. The High Bandwidth Memory Market Outlook reflects sustained innovation as vendors prioritize scalability, reliability, and power optimization to meet future computing requirements.

Full article

https://preview.redd.it/tofve0wtsa1h1.png?width=1246&format=png&auto=webp&s=eedc40e31d532b5521cd21766938c951c4bdaec5

>TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, expects the global semiconductor market to exceed $1.5 trillion by 2030, topping its previous forecast ​of $1 trillion, according to its presentation materials ahead of a tech ‌symposium on Thursday.

• AI and high-performance computing are expected to account for 55% of the $1.5 trillion market, followed by smartphones with 20%, and automotive applications with 10%, according ​to TSMC.
• TSMC said it has been expanding capacity at a faster pace in ​2025 and 2026 and plans to build nine phases of wafer ⁠fabs and advanced packaging facilities in 2026.
• The chipmaker is projected to ramp up ​capacity for its most advanced 2-nanometer and next generation A16 chips, with a compounded ​annual growth rate (CAGR) of 70% from 2026 to 2028.
• TSMC said CAGR of capacity for its advanced packaging CoWoS (Chip on Wafer on Substrate) is forecast at more than 80% from 2022 ​to 2027. CoWoS is a key chip packaging technology widely used in AI ​chips including those designed by Nvidia 
• The company said AI accelerator wafer demand is projected to ‌increase ⁠11-fold from 2022 to 2026.

Source

>KIOXIA America, Inc. today announced a breakthrough in high-density storage infrastructure, collaborating with Dell Technologies to deliver a 2U server configuration capable of scaling to an unprecedented 9.8 petabytes (PB) of flash storage. By combining the Dell PowerEdge R7725xd server with AMD EPYC processors and 40 KIOXIA LC9 Series E3.L form factor 245.76 terabyte (TB) NVMe SSDs, the companies are enabling a new class of storage-optimized platforms built to meet the demands of AI, large-scale data lakes, and data-intensive enterprise workloads.

>"As AI workloads grow more demanding, the infrastructure supporting them must keep pace," said Arun Narayanan, senior vice president, Compute and Networking, Dell Technologies. "The Dell PowerEdge R7725xd combined with KIOXIA's high-capacity enterprise SSDs delivers the storage density and power efficiency our customers need to scale AI infrastructure without sacrificing performance."

>Dell PowerEdge R7725xd servers are built for modern AI and data-centric workloads, combining dense storage with powerful compute. These flexible air-cooled storage configurations complement GPU-enabled servers, supporting AI data management and model training by delivering massive storage capacity across the AI lifecycle. These systems support up to 5x 400 Gbps NICs, allowing users to fill and move data through pipelines more efficiently - ultimately making the most of their data. Paired with KIOXIA LC9 Series 245.76 TB SSDs, these systems provide high-capacity, power-efficient solutions that reduce TCO and data center footprint.

SNDK's most important joint NAND flash supplier and business partner just announced a new high-end server/datacenter product today. Hopefully it can take more market share so it benefits SNDK nicely too.

Full article

>Samsung Electronics has decided to proactively adjust its semiconductor production volume ahead of a one-week general strike by its labor union. The move aims to prevent the worst-case scenario of halted semiconductor production lines due to the strike, by preemptively reducing output and enhancing stability. This effectively means sacrificing revenue and profits to prioritize accident prevention, with critics noting that the strike’s impact is already materializing.

>Samsung Electronics reportedly entered a state of emergency management across all semiconductor business sites on the 14th. The key measure is a reduction in memory production ahead of the strike. Semiconductor production relies on ultra-precision processes designed for 24-hour operation. A large-scale strike could lead to labor shortages, causing improper management of production lines, frequent defects, and potential shutdowns. Such disruptions could result in astronomical losses, including wafer waste and reduced equipment stability.

>Industry analysts suggest that Samsung’s preemptive production adjustments, planned before the union’s general strike on the 18th, will inevitably cause at least one month of production disruptions even after operations resume. The union claims the strike could cause up to 30 trillion Korean won in losses. Some business circles estimate that direct damages to Samsung Electronics, compounded by production halts at its 1,754 first- to third-tier suppliers, could reach up to 100 trillion Korean won.

Here's some of the latest regarding our competitor's planned 18 days strike. There's still no 100% confirmation if and how the South Korean government will get involved so it's just uncertainty and preparing for it at the moment.

Full article

>NVIDIA has reportedly informed its board partners about a new cost increase for GeForce RTX 5090 and GeForce RTX 5090D V2 graphics cards. The change is said to be tied to GDDR7 memory pricing rather than the GPU itself.

>According to Board Channels, NVIDIA has not changed the suggested retail price for either model. The increase applies to the cost charged to AIC partners, which means retail pricing may still move higher once the updated costs reach distributors and retailers.

>The source claims the increase is around $300, or about 2,000 RMB. This would apply to RTX 5090 and RTX 5090D V2 cards, with the latter being the China-specific model that uses 24GB of GDDR7 memory on a 384-bit bus. The standard RTX 5090 uses 32GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus

So the RTX 5090 is a flagship consumer GPU and not a dedicated datacenter/server GPU but this price hike due to the ongoing global memory crisis is still going to be felt by all customers/buyers - just another latest sign memory prices continue to go up and not down.

Beneficial news for MU though. Not great for gamers like me still waiting to upgrade my PC.

Full article

>KIOXIA just introduced its XG10 Series, a new high-performance client SSD family targeting PC OEMs for desktop and mobile applications. The XG10 succeeds the XG8 Series but adopts a PCIe 5.0 (Gen5 x4) interface and NVMe 2.0d compliance to deliver substantial generational gains in both sequential and random performance. KIOXIA positions the XG10 for demanding client workloads such as local AI training and inference, professional content creation and editing, and gaming.

>speeds up to 12,000 MB/s, along with random read performance of up to 2,000 KIOPS and random write performance up to 1,600 KIOPS.

>Versus the prior XG8 generation, the XG10 achieves up to 2x sequential read, more than 2x sequential write, and ~122% improvement in random read, and ~158% improvement in random write, for faster transfers improved system responsiveness. The drives are offered in the M.2 2280 form factor, in capacities ranging from 512 GB - 4 TB. Lower-capacity models use BICS FLASH™ Gen6 TLC while the 2 TB and 4 TB models use BICS FLASH Gen8 TLC. Additional features include Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) support and support for the TCG Opal2 security specification.

Kioxia (SNDK's longstanding exclusive NAND business partner) just announced their new Gen5 NVME SSDs today to get more competition and consumer choice going.

Don't forget their earnings call is coming up on May 15.

Full article

>The upgrade reflects improved credit metrics and a strong balance sheet. The company has repaid all of its debt. It has a cash balance of $3.7 billion and now is in a net cash position per our adjusted credit metrics, which adds the company’s guarantees on its manufacturing joint ventures’ (Flash Ventures) equipment leases to debt.

>We expect Sandisk will continue benefiting from favorable market conditions through fiscal 2027, with a significant rise in cash flow. The market for NAND remains supply constrained, driving growth in prices, revenue, and margins. Strong data center demand is driving pricing higher--revenue from its data center business grew 191% year to date and year over year. In the April quarter, all of Sandisk’s segments reported over 100% year-over-year increases in ASP per gigabyte. We anticipate that the market will remain supply constrained through fiscal 2027. In our base case, we expect revenue will grow to $19 billion in 2026 and to more than $30 billion in fiscal 2027.

>We believe EBITDA margins will expand because of price increases and the ramp-up of lower cost-per-bit technology such as BiCS8 and forecast EBITDA margins of 62% in 2026 and above 70% in 2027. We expect capital expenditures (capex), including net issuance of parent loans to Flash Ventures, to be between $600 million and $650 million, to support its back-end facilities and for equipment purchases at Flash Ventures. We also expect free cash flow generation of about $6 billion in fiscal year ending June 2026 and over $15 billion in 2027.

>Sandisk's conservative balance sheet will limit the impact of volatile earnings on leverage. The industry has historically been very volatile—when supply exceeds demand, prices fall, sometimes dramatically. The company’s business is concentrated in flash memory, and it competes with much larger companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. Customer concentration is still meaningful, with the top 10 customers representing 40% of revenue for fiscal 2025. These conditions have not fundamentally changed. The company is currently benefiting from a demand and supply imbalance, which could eventually reverse and result in a downturn.

>We do not expect a downturn in the next year because currently, Sandisk’s largest competitors are focused on the HBM business and are not significantly ramping up NAND capacity. Strong demand from data centers coupled with limited supply has caused some customers to sign long-term agreements with Sandisk. These long-term agreements come with volume commitments and have a combination of fixed and variable pricing. This is a positive development for the company and may limit the decline of down cycles.

More than just healthy signs all-round.

SNDK's recently fully paid off all its debt, offered an immediate buyback and its strong financials have attracted positive attention and compliments about their performance and future outlook from S&P global.

Original source

>As global memory makers pivot toward high-capacity solutions and steadily phase out legacy 2D NAND, supply of low-capacity, general-purpose NAND chips is tightening sharply, sending spot prices soaring. According to Chosun Ilbo, 64Gb MLC NAND spot prices have surged more than 300% from end-2025 levels, recently trading in the $20–28 range.

>Major NAND suppliers are aggressively shifting capacity from 2D NAND to HBM and advanced 3D NAND, fueling the broader price uptrend. Chosun Ilbo reports Samsung began gradually shutting down 2D NAND production at its Hwaseong Line 12 in March, converting the site into an end fab for 1c DRAM. The company is set to end shipments after next month’s final deliveries, effectively closing its last 2D NAND stronghold with a monthly wafer capacity of 80,000–100,000 units, the report adds.

>Kioxia, SK hynix, and Micron are also keeping MLC production largely limited to existing customer demand, with little incentive to expand capacity, TrendForce notes. Thus, global MLC NAND Flash capacity is projected to fall 41.7% YoY in 2026, further deepening the supply-demand imbalance.

>Kioxia China, as previously reported by TechNews, issued an end-of-life notice on March 31, saying certain floating-gate and third-generation BiCS FLASH products will be phased out in 2028. Chosun Ilbo adds that the company plans to take final orders by end-September this year, complete last shipments by December 2028, and fully exit 2D NAND and 3rd-gen BiCS FLASH from 2029 onward.

Good for SNDK as 3D NAND flash continues to be priority for their key products.

Full article

>May 13 (Reuters) - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has joined over a dozen U.S. CEOs on ‌President Donald Trump's visit to China this week.

>Trump called Huang last-minute ‌on Tuesday after seeing media coverage that he was not invited, according to one source ​familiar with the matter. Huang was seen by White House reporters boarding Air Force One in Alaska, joining Trump on his flight to China.

>Huang did not appear on an initial list of executives provided by the White House earlier ‌this week, which included Tesla ⁠CEO Elon Musk and Apple's Tim Cook.

>"Jensen is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America ⁠and the administration's goals," an Nvidia spokesperson said.

>A White House spokesman said Huang's schedule had changed and that it worked out for him to come.

>Many of ​the companies ​joining Trump face significant regulatory or market ​access barriers in China, and ‌view the summit as a political opening that could help accelerate regulatory discussions already underway in China, sources previously told Reuters.

Good news as the media initially said Jensen wasn't invited and he said he'd be honored to join if given the chance. Now it's official last minute - hopefully a good trade deal can be agreed.