Every Memory Stock Is Now in a Bear Market: Is Micron, SanDisk, or Applied Materials the Best Buy? - 24/7 Wall St.

This article examines the current market conditions of the semiconductor memory chip industry, noting that all memory-related stocks are currently in a bear market. The analysis focuses on comparing M... Read original →

The sector-wide bear market in memory stocks stems from post-AI capex front-loading and the end of consumer electronics inventory restocking, creating a supply-demand mismatch. Micron leads in HBM3E but faces export control risks due to fab concentration in the U.S. and Taiwan, China. Western Digital (SanDisk’s parent) struggles with NAND cost structures amid looming price wars. Applied Materials, deeply embedded in global advanced nodes via ALD and EUV-enabling processes, holds the strongest cyclical resilience. Over the next 12–24 months, the industry will consolidate around high-performance, high-reliability memory solutions—HBM and CXL architectures will squeeze out smaller players. The real winners won’t be the cheapest stocks, but those maintaining technological neutrality between the U.S.-Japan-Netherlands equipment alliance and localized foundries like SMIC. Supply chain security has escalated from a cost issue to an existential threshold.