Last night, the US stock market's semiconductor sector continued its strong upward momentum.
Micron closed up about 12%, SanDisk up 14%, and SK Hynix up 13%. The rises of these three storage chip giants are comparable to the intraday volatility of cryptocurrencies. Moreover, the impact of this surge goes beyond the numbers themselves—it directly shattered the consensus of "memory cycle peaking" that had gradually taken shape in the market over the past few weeks.
"The super cycle of storage chips has ended"—this judgment, which had begun to sound increasingly persuasive, was overturned overnight by real capital.
1. Why the continued surge? Two underlying logics are being restructured
On the surface, this seems to be an emotionally driven rebound. But after dissecting the driving factors, it is evident that there are two more profound industrial logics being repriced.
Logic One: Storage is becoming the "second ticket"
For the past two years, the narrative core of the AI industrial chain has revolved around one word—GPU. Nvidia has been that sole king; whoever buys the most GPUs leads in the AI arms race.
But now, this narrative is undergoing a crucial expansion.
Nvidia's next generation AI chip architecture, Vera Rubin, has entered mass production and shipping stages. This chip demands unprecedented levels of memory bandwidth and capacity—the parameter scale on the model side is also expanding. Simultaneously, Kimi K3’s 28 trillion parameters mean that during the inference process, HBM (high bandwidth memory), DRAM, and traditional storage must remain loaded throughout, rather than being moved back and forth between CPU and GPU as in the past.
In plain language: Storage is no longer an "appendage" to GPUs; it is becoming an independent bottleneck that determines AI system performance on par with GPUs.
The narrative on computing power is expanding from "buying only GPUs" to "storage is the second ticket." When the status of storage is elevated to be on the same level as computing power, the entire valuation framework of the industrial chain needs to be rewritten—this is also the core reason why capital suddenly flowed back into storage chips.
Logic Two: The industry is increasing investments, not contracting
Contrary to the pessimistic narrative of "capital expenditures peaking," actual actions at the industrial level show that players are doubling down, not hitting the brakes.
Recent news can also explain this phenomenon:
First, SK Hynix is rumored to be in talks to acquire Intel's wafer fab in Ohio. If this deal is completed, Hynix will have DRAM manufacturing capabilities on American soil—this not only strategically strengthens its global capacity layout but also paves the way for securing large customer orders in the US amid increasing geopolitical uncertainties.
Second, leaders from three South Korean tech giants—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Naver—are reportedly flying to Silicon Valley this week for a roundtable discussion with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. This marks the first time that top players from memory manufacturers, GPU dominators, and large model developers are sitting at the same table—the depth and breadth of industrial collaboration far exceed previous market expectations.
These signals point to one judgment: The industrial status of storage chips is being systematically reassessed. They are no longer mere passive suppliers of commodities but strategic nodes on par with GPUs in the AI infrastructure chain.
The market believes that the second half of the storage super cycle may have just begun.
2. But don’t rush to open the champagne—the destiny of cyclical stocks will not disappear
That said, "the second half has begun" does not mean "you can chase blindly."
The storage chip industry has an iron law, no matter how optimistic you are about the current demand explosion, you cannot escape it—cyclicality.
History repeatedly tells us: The cyclical peak of the semiconductor industry often ends with a drop of 30% to 50%. This is not speculation; it is the standard conclusion of every storage super cycle in the past twenty years.
The current second half may have indeed opened, but that does not mean the valuation bubble leftover from the first half has been fully digested. The second half can be profitable, but it can also lead to losses.
3. An easily overlooked "hidden danger": the 29.8% premium of SK Hynix ADRs
If you chased the rise of SK Hynix's US ADR (SKHY) last night, there is a risk that could really impact your holdings.
Currently, SKHY's stock price is about $173, but it carries a premium of about 29.8% compared to Hynix's domestic stock in the KOSPI market. After deducting this premium, the reasonable value according to Korean stocks is approximately $120.
More critically: On July 29, just five trading days later, SKHY's ADR will open for swaps with the Korean stock.
What does this mean? It means that arbitrage funds can buy cheaper domestic stocks in the Korean market and then convert them to ADRs for sale in the US stock market—earning nearly a 30% premium through this maneuver. When massive arbitrage funds flood in, the price of the ADR will be forcefully pulled down to the level of the domestic stock.
Even if the Korean stock itself does not drop, SKHY could fall sharply due to premium convergence. If you entered the market at a high premium range above $170, this risk is not merely theoretical but right there in your holdings.
4. Final note: The outlook is positive, but the process is bumpy—options are the best "safety belt" at this time
In summary of the above analysis, the current situation can be encapsulated in one sentence: The overall direction is positive, but the process is fraught with bumps.
You may agree that the second half of the storage super cycle has begun, but you also understand that cyclical stocks may face a correction of over 30% at any moment.
At this moment of "faith in direction but fear in process," options are the most appropriate risk management tool.
The options feature on the BIT platform will officially launch this week, enabling you to:
Hold the underlying stock + buy put options: use a small premium to lock in downside risks within an acceptable range
Buy in both directions: earnings season is volatile, uncertain about rises and falls? Bet on both sides, as long as the volatility is large enough you can profit
Buy call options in one direction: optimistic about the second half but don’t want to fully chase the underlying stock? Use options to leverage your investment with the maximum loss limited to the premium
Financing for long positions, short selling, and options insurance—three directions, one platform. BIT allows you to seize the opportunity for rise during the second half of the storage super cycle while securing the lower bounds during a correction.
Risk warning: Options trading involves risks and may lead to complete loss of the paid premium; combining with financing will further amplify risks. The above strategies and figures are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute investment advice; actual trading outcomes may vary depending on market conditions; please make cautious decisions based on your risk tolerance.
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