Memory chip stocks rallied Monday as investors combined optimism over AI hardware demand with a fresh US push to discourage American companies from sourcing memory from China. Micron Technology gained more than 5.9%, SK Hynix rose 5.6%, and SanDisk advanced 8.9% in trading.
The move followed comments from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who told The Wall Street Journal that it was “not great American companies using Chinese memory” and said the administration had conveyed that message to Apple. The remarks came after reports that Apple was in early discussions with ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, about potentially sourcing components for devices sold in China. CXMT accounted for about 7% of global DRAM revenue in the second quarter, according to Counterpoint Research, and US rules require licenses before product information can be shared with the company.
Bank of America added to Micron’s momentum by reiterating a Buy rating and a $1,550 price target, implying roughly 59% upside from the levels cited in the report. BofA expects Micron’s fiscal 2030 earnings per share to reach between $200 and $250, well above the Wall Street consensus peak estimate of $160 to $170. The bank argued memory may be entering a “structurally stronger phase,” and pointed to SanDisk’s durable growth outlook as evidence of a more sustained period of strength.
SanDisk CEO David Goeckeler highlighted a shift toward multi-year customer agreements, increasing demand visibility from roughly three months to more than four years, with 50% to two-thirds of supply covered. Micron Chief Business Officer Sumit Sadana said customer demand signals have strengthened and expects “very tight industry conditions” to continue beyond 2027, with DRAM increasingly identified as customers’ primary constraint.
HIVE Digital Technologies surged 8% after its subsidiary BUZZ HPC signed a five-year GPU cloud services deal worth approximately $350 million. The contract covers 2,016 Nvidia Blackwell Ultra GPUs and is expected to go live in Q4 2026 at HIVE’s Bell AI Fabric facility in British Columbia. The deal adds around $70 million in annualized revenue, lifting BUZZ HPC’s total annualized revenue to roughly $180 million. HIVE expects daily HPC and AI revenue to reach about $500,000 once fully deployed.
Elsewhere, Alibaba rose around 1% after agreeing to sell its videogame business for at least $1.5 billion to fund its AI push. Diana Shipping jumped as much as 10% after withdrawing its takeover bid for Genco Shipping, while L3Harris fell 2% after replacing its chairman and CEO over a Code of Conduct violation.
