Tim Cook's Parting Gift: Rising Memory Prices Expected Through 2030

Apple's outgoing CEO Tim Cook has given memory stocks a boost in his final earnings conference call. He described rising memory prices as a 'hundred-year flood' and noted that Apple will pay significantly more for memory in the upcoming September-ending quarter than it did in the June-ended quarter.

Cook also indicated that memory prices are expected to continue increasing after the September quarter, which could be good news for companies like Micron Technology (MU) and SK Hynix. These firms make up a significant portion of the DRAM market, along with Samsung Electronics.

The high demand for memory is driven by the AI infrastructure build-out, which requires specialized forms of DRAM called High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). This has led to supply-demand imbalances and prices are expected to continue rising. In fact, SK Hynix expects 2027 to see the biggest supply-demand imbalance in industry history.

While Micron and Sandisk have benefited from these trends, analysts believe that SK Hynix is better-positioned for long-term growth due to its strong partnerships with major chip makers like Nvidia. The company has also signed a multi-year supply deal with Nvidia worth $500 billion.