Overview
- Micron reported a blowout quarter, which was released Wednesday, with $41.46 billion in revenue, about $22 billion of customer precommitments and guidance near $50 billion that executives said reflects persistent AI memory demand.
- South Korea’s SK Hynix has moved to tap U.S. capital markets with plans for a listing to raise up to $29.4 billion to monetise investor appetite tied to AI infrastructure spending.
- Stocks swung sharply after Micron’s results lifted chip names and briefly revived the AI rally, but gains gave way to a selloff driven by reports that OpenAI may delay its IPO and by device makers passing higher memory costs to customers.
- Manufacturers and consumers are feeling the squeeze: Apple raised prices on Macs and iPads because of higher memory and storage costs, showing how tight high‑bandwidth memory (HBM) is feeding through to retail prices.
- Analysts warn the cycle is fragile because hyperscalers’ multi‑year trillions in planned capex depend on future end‑user revenue, supply ramps for HBM are slow, and a rapid increase in capacity could quickly reverse prices and profits.