To The Moon

Fantastic IPOs.

Are days of fantastic first day debut here to stay ?

Just take recently listed Nvidia’s competitor - $Cerebras Systems(CBRS)$.

When CBRS went public on Thu, 14 May 2026 it shot up to as high as $385 /share intraday; that a +208% from its listed price of $185 /share.

With SpaceX (SPCX) roadshow due to commence on Thu, 6 Jun 2026 and go public on 12 Jun 2026, will history repeat itself for the Musk-owned company ?

Besides trying one’s luck at selective Initial Public Offer (IPO) that in all honesty could be (i) a little FOMO and (ii) speculative in nature, there is of course the tried and tested method of strategic investment in certain stocks based on one’s ability to spot bubbling trend.

In the current market landscape, no trend has proven more rewarding than the massive infrastructure buildout underpinning artificial intelligence (AI).

While initial phases of this boom focused heavily on processing power, the market bottleneck has shifted decisively toward storage & memory.

The macro-shift has sparked a meteoric, synchronized rise in 2 prominent semiconductor stocks.

Namely: -

• $Micron Technology(MU)$.

• $SanDisk Corp.(SNDK)$

Over the past 12 months, both companies have seen their valuations skyrocket, cementing their statuses as the market's premier momentum plays:

• MU climbed nearly +700%.

• SNDK recorded an astronomical gain of over +3,000%. (see below)

As of Fri, 22 May 2026

Don’t you agree gains from above 2 established veteran stocks, easily dwarf CBRS’s and as of Fri, 22 May 2026 closed out the week at $256.78 / share ?

The Dual Catalysts.

The dramatic rise of these 2 memory giants is not merely speculative; it is anchored in a fundamental "perfect storm" that has granted them unprecedented market leverage.

(1). The AI Data Center Storage Bottleneck

While Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) like $NVIDIA(NVDA)$’s handle the computational heavy lifting of AI training, those large language models (LLMs) require vast repositories of high-speed storage to feed and retain data.

This has triggered an exponential demand shock for SNDK's enterprise-grade 3D NAND solid-state drives (SSDs) and MU’s High Bandwidth Memory (HBM).

The sheer volume of data being generated has transformed memory from a commoditized hardware component into a critical high-tech bottleneck.

(2). Severe Supply Deficits and Hyper-Pricing Power

Coming out of a brutal semiconductor downcycle in previous years, manufacturers had decidedly & aggressively scaled back capital expenditures and capacity expansion.

Consequently, when the AI demand wave hit, global supply was completely caught off guard.

SanDisk.

The company entered a phase where its fabrication plants ran at maximum capacity with a massive $42 billion order backlog, allowing it to double the price of its enterprise SSDs.

The absolute pricing power expanded SanDisk's non-GAAP gross margins to a staggering +78.4%.

Micron.

On 20 Apr 2026, MU enjoyed an immediate boost from its inclusion in the $NASDAQ 100(NDX)$. That triggered index-fund buying and added fuel to an already powerful move.

The company mirrored SNDK’s dynamic in the short-term memory sector; its contract prices for Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) surged over 90%.

As proof of the ‘acute’ situation, MU’s entire premium HBM supply has been completely sold out for multiple quarters ahead.

On 03 Dec 2025, the company even made the ‘painful’ decision to exit its long-established consumer market to stay focus on its enterprise customers. (see below)

Who would have known that the already strained supply chain issue was further exacerbated by sudden geopolitical and operational disruptions among overseas competitors.

On 17 Apr 2026, Samsung Electronics staged a sit-in protest over dissatisfaction with performance-based bonus distribution. and better overall pay structures to narrow the compensation gap with rival SK Hynix.

By 23 Apr 2026, the pre-strike sit-in drastically disrupted operations, causing a -58% drop in foundry production and an -18% decline in memory chip production on that single day.

This debacle has forced cloud hyperscalers to aggressively divert multi-billion dollar orders directly to MU and SNDK.

Thankfully, Samsung Management managed at the 11th hour to seal a provisional agreement with the workers’ union, averting the full-scale strike slated for 21 May 2026.

This is not the end of the saga.

Although the strike has been averted, shareholders were furious over the massive scale of the employee payouts (as it meant less dividends).

They have vowed to launch legal action to block the final implementation of the contract.

What’s Next.

Near-Term Outlook (2026 - 2027)

In the immediate future, the momentum is heavily favoured to last.

Wall Street consensus and major institutional brokerages maintain highly bullish stances.

Citibank has set an aggressive target prices of more than $2,000 for SNDK, based on reality that the AI data centres build out globally is outstripping the speed at which new memory fabrication plants can be built.

And because SNDK & MU have secured long-term supply agreements with fixed pricing floors, their earnings power is far more insulated than past commodity cycles.

Analysts project that the tight supply-demand imbalance will keep premium pricing until tail end of 2027 (at least).

Long-Term Outlook (beyond 2026).

History dictates that the memory industry is cyclical.

However, this time it could be different due to unprecedented scale of structural AI demand, the underlying laws of supply and demand have not been repealed.

By 2027 and 2028, competitive capacity expansions from global rivals will inevitably catch up to the market.

Early warning indicators, such as a gradual rise in SanDisk’s inventory days will hint that capacity is rebuilding.

Eventually when supply catches up with demand, both SNDK & MU will lose their ability to charge premium prices.

As a result, the 2 fast-growing stocks will cool down, returning to being regular, highly profitable tech stocks that rise and fall with the usual market cycles.

It is necessary to keep a close eye on (1) the companies spending and (2) global stock levels - all these will be crucial to knowing exactly when this massive boom peaks.

While picking individual stocks can bring massive gains, the huge stock price jumps in veteran stocks like MU and SNDK make their high buying prices very scary (for me) and maybe, everyday investors.

For those who still wish to gain exposure to this secular AI storage boom and with less vulnerability or cost of single-stock concentration, there is a new alternative, an ETF.

$Roundhill Memory ETF(DRAM)$.

Launched by Roundhill Investments, a firm renowned for creating innovative, thematic funds that capture precise global tech shifts.

The latest EFT on offer is the world’s first targeted pure-play basket of companies entirely dedicated to (a) computer memory, (b) NAND flash, and (c) storage infrastructure.

Facts & Statistics.

DRAM ETF is domiciled in the US and is structured as a series of the Roundhill ETF Trust and trades on the Cboe BZX Exchange.

It is a fresh market entrant and was officially launched on 02 Apr 2026 (still a baby !)

Despite its recent entry and short lifespan, the ETF has immediately capitalized on the explosive global demand for AI server hardware. (see below)

• From a baseline pricing point of around $26 /unit at inception, the ETF quickly surged to a 52-week high of $56.38.

• It has logged a staggering gain of more than +90% since its IPO.

• As of Fri, 22 May 2026, it settled at a closing price of $52.82.

Why DRAM ?

After comparing its diversified basket against the current 2 heavyweights (SNDK & MU), the ETF’s structural and financial benefits become clear:

(1) Price Point.

With both SNDK and MU at its peaks (now), buying into them requires a lot of money:

• 1 single-share for MU costs $751 (as of 22 May 2026), while SNDK costs more at $1,478.69.

• Buying (just) a few shares of these stocks will cost thousands of dollars.

In contrast, DRAM ETF trades at $52.82 /unit (as of 22 May 2026), making it ‘relatively’ easy for everyday investors (like you & I) to invest in the memory market with less outlay, comparatively speaking.

(2) Comprehensive Global Exposure

The DRAM ETF structurally mitigates regional operational risk by holding significant positions not just in MU and SNDK, but international powerhouses, as well. (see below)

DRAM’s Holdings allocation: (as of 26 May 2026)

• Roughly 28.28% of its weight to US leader MU. (see above)

• Falling to 2nd position is Roundhill former #1 SK Hynix at 27.04%.

• Rounding off top 3 is Samsung Electronics at 19.16%.

• Its remaining balances on enterprise storage giants like Kioxia, Seagate and $Western Digital(WDC)$.

This ETF covers almost all grounds. Should a competitor bounces back for a bigger slice of market share, the fund balances out the gains internally.

Additional notes on DRAM’s holdings.

Below constitutes DRAM’s core memory exposure, making up top 90%+ of its equity allocation:

• SK Hynix is (1) the 2nd-largest worldwide DRAM maker and (2) major supplier of HBM for AI

• Samsung Electronics is the global memory leader of DRAM and NAND.

• Micron is US pure-play memory giant.

• SanDisk is US’s enterprise SSD and NAND leader.

• Kioxia is a Japanese NAND flash manufacturer.

• Seagate & Western Digital are US’s enterprises storage HDD/SSD players.

Parting Thoughts.

The arrival of a dedicated “memory” ETF signals an important evolution in the broader AI narrative.

It is no longer just about a race for basic processing power but one that is undergoing a structural decentralization.

This is because the processing capability is dependent on peripheral architecture.

Recognizably, long-term winners on the AI-digital frontier may no longer be determined by a single explosive IPO or an individual corporate stock, but by a collective, systemic grid of hardware that keeps global intelligence network alive. Agree ?

Remember to check out my other posts. (See below). Help to Repost ok, Thanks.

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