A new strong cycle of storage has arrived! Wedbush: Some product prices may increase by up to 150%

Question to AI: Why doesn’t the weakness in the PC market affect the storage cycle’s prosperity?

Financial Associated Press, March 24 (Editor: Bian Chun) Wall Street’s well-known investment bank Wedbush recently pointed out that the surge in memory demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure development and tight supply will push prices of certain memory products to rise over 100%.

Wedbush analysts stated in a report released on Monday that DRAM and NAND storage prices are rapidly increasing, and they expect that by the fourth quarter of 2025, the price increase in the first half of 2026 will reach “triple digits.” Among these, the price increase for DRAM is expected to reach 130% to 150%, with NAND close to this level, indicating that the storage market is entering a new strong cycle.

This is undoubtedly a positive sign for memory manufacturers such as Micron Technology, Seagate Technology, and Western Digital.

“The improvement in the memory market was expected,” Wedbush stated, “but the magnitude of this price increase highlights the significant improvement in the market since the first quarter, which aligns perfectly with our recent positive research on the memory industry and Micron’s impressive performance and guidance.”

Micron’s financial report released last week showed that revenue in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 nearly doubled, reaching $23.86 billion, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $20.07 billion, with adjusted earnings per share of $12.20, far exceeding the expected $9.31. For the third quarter, the company expects revenue of approximately $33.5 billion, skyrocketing from $9.3 billion a year ago, an increase of over 200%, far surpassing analysts’ expectations of $24.3 billion; adjusted earnings per share are expected to be around $19.15, also far exceeding analysts’ expectations of $12.05.

The tight supply situation has also affected other parts of the hardware ecosystem. Wedbush pointed out that due to demand continuing to exceed supply, hard disk manufacturers may request higher contract prices.

“Given this backdrop and the further widening of the supply-demand gap, we believe that hard disk drive (HDD) suppliers will adopt a more aggressive strategy in future contract pricing than previously indicated,” Wedbush stated.

Meanwhile, with strong supply chain relationships, NVIDIA seems well-prepared to ensure the supply of components needed for its AI systems. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang recently indicated that he expects NVIDIA’s Blackwell and Rubin systems to secure approximately $1 trillion in orders.

Wedbush noted that NVIDIA’s announcement of more collaborations (including last week’s partnership with Amazon), its positive research on manufacturers and supply chains regarding demand for 2026–2027, and NVIDIA’s industry-leading component acquisition capabilities all support this goal.

However, not all sectors of the tech market are showing the same strong momentum. Wedbush pointed out that industry insiders have a pessimistic outlook for the PC and mobile phone markets this year.

Wedbush noted that many PC-related companies are supported by demand from server businesses, but overall market sentiment is weakening. In fact, industry feedback currently indicates that, aside from Apple, the year-on-year decline in PC and mobile phone shipments could be as high as 20%.

(Financial Associated Press, Bian Chun)