Forget Micron? This New AI Memory Stock Could Be the Best Buy of the Decade

Quick Read

• SK hynix launches on Nasdaq July 10 (SKHY) as the dominant HBM supplier with 58% global market share, dwarfing Micron’s 21%.

• Bernstein projects SK hynix will reach 91% gross margins in Q2 2026, with operating margins of 70 to 80% versus Micron’s 50 to 55%.

• Hyperscalers will spend over $700 billion on AI infrastructure this year, keeping HBM demand elevated and Micron’s supply already sold out through year-end.

• Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Micron Technology didn’t make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Artificial intelligence has created no shortage of investment opportunities, but it has also exposed one bottleneck after another. First it was GPUs. Then networking. Then power generation. Today, memory has become one of the industry’s biggest constraints. 

Every advanced AI model requires enormous amounts of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and DRAM to keep increasingly powerful chips fed with data. As hyperscalers continue spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure, memory suppliers have become just as essential as chip designers. For investors, that changes where the next wave of profits may come from — and perhaps which stock deserves a closer look.

Memory Has Become the AI Boom’s New Bottleneck

For most U.S. investors, Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) has been the obvious way to invest in the AI memory shortage. The strategy has worked remarkably well.

Micron shares have climbed 141% year to date, are up roughly 700% over the past year, and have gained approximately 1,440% during the past three years as demand for HBM exploded. In comparison, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is up 4.5% in 2026, 24% over the last 12%, and 360% since July 2023.

Those returns reflect a simple reality: every AI accelerator from companies like Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), and custom cloud chips requires massive amounts of premium memory. And the shortage isn’t disappearing anytime soon.

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Micron’s HBM production is sold out through the end of the year, while management continues expanding manufacturing capacity. Meanwhile, the world’s four largest hyperscalers are expected to spend more than $700 billion on AI infrastructure this year alone, ensuring demand remains elevated for the components powering those systems.

This Stock Has the Strongest Memory Business

Friday, July 10, marks an important milestone, as South Korea’s SK hynix begins trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SKHY, giving U.S. investors much easier access to what many industry observers consider the world’s premier AI memory manufacturer.

SK hynix isn’t simply another memory producer. It currently leads the HBM market, supplying much of the advanced memory paired with Nvidia’s latest AI accelerators. 

Research firm TrendForce estimates the company controls more than half of the global HBM market, ahead of Micron and Samsung Electronics. Bernstein Research recently projected SK hynix could generate gross margins of 91% during the second quarter as HBM becomes an ever-larger percentage of sales. Those numbers are extraordinary for any semiconductor business.

Profitability also appears to favor SK hynix. Based on recent quarterly results, its operating margins have exceeded Micron’s by a wide margin thanks to its larger mix of premium HBM products.

Source: Industry estimates, analyst forecasts, Counterpoint Research.

Why Investors Should Consider Owning Both

Granted, Micron remains an outstanding company. It has executed exceptionally well, expanded HBM production rapidly, and continues benefiting from one of the strongest demand environments the memory industry has ever experienced.

That said, market leadership matters. SK hynix has established an early lead in the highest-value segment of AI memory, where pricing power remains strongest and margins continue expanding. If AI infrastructure spending maintains anything close to its current pace over the next several years, the companies supplying the industry’s most constrained components could remain among its biggest winners.

For investors who already own Micron, adding SK hynix provides exposure to the current market leader rather than replacing one winner with another.

Key Takeaway

In short, the AI memory boom looks far from over, and memory has become one of its most valuable choke points. Micron rewarded investors who recognized that trend early. Now SK hynix offers a compelling new opportunity.

Regardless of whether SK hynix ultimately surpasses Micron as the better long-term investment, its leadership in HBM, expanding profitability, and premium margins make a strong case for initiating at least a small position. Investors who believe AI infrastructure spending still has years of growth ahead may even conclude a larger allocation is justified.

After all, when an industry is constrained by memory, owning the company that has the industry’s most sought-after supply is rarely a bad place to start.

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Contact editorial@247wallst.com for any questions or corrections.