Semiconductor storage continues its upward trend. Is it time to focus on building positions?

The US stock chip sector continued its strong upward momentum last night.

Micron closed up about 12%, SanDisk closed up 14%, and SK Hynix closed up 13%. The gains of these three storage chip giants, each taken individually, are enough to rival the daily volatility of altcoins in the crypto space. But the impact of this surge extends beyond the numbers themselves—it directly shattered the consensus that had been gradually forming over the past few weeks: that the "memory cycle has peaked."

The judgement that "the super cycle for memory chips is over," which had sounded increasingly convincing, was effectively vetoed overnight by capital moving in with real money.

I. Why the Continued Surge? Two Underlying Logics Are Being Reconstructed

On the surface, this appears to be an emotionally driven revenge rally. But when you break down the drivers, you find two deeper industry logics behind it that are being repriced.

Logic One: Storage Becomes the "Second Ticket"

For the past two years, the core narrative of the AI industry chain has had only one word—GPU. Nvidia was the sole king, and whoever bought the most GPUs led the AI arms race.

But now, this narrative is undergoing a critical diffusion.

Nvidia's next-generation AI chip architecture, Vera Rubin, has entered the mass production and shipment phase. This chip's demand for memory bandwidth and capacity has reached unprecedented heights—the parameter scale on the model side is also expanding in tandem. Meanwhile, Kimi K3's 2.8 trillion parameters mean that HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), DRAM, and traditional storage must be constantly loaded throughout the inference process, rather than being shuttled back and forth between CPU and GPU as in the past.

In plain English: Storage is no longer an "accessory" to the GPU; it is becoming an independent bottleneck, on par with the GPU, that determines the performance of an AI system.

The computing narrative is shifting from "buy only GPUs" to "storage is the second ticket." When the status of storage is elevated to equal that of computing power, the valuation framework for the entire industry chain needs to be rewritten—this is the core reason why capital suddenly flowed back into storage chips.

Logic Two: The Industry is Doubling Down, Not Pulling Back

Contrary to the pessimistic "capex peak" narrative, the actual actions at the industry level show that players are increasing their bets, not hitting the brakes.

Recent news can also explain this phenomenon:

First, SK Hynix is reportedly in talks to acquire Intel's wafer fab in Ohio, USA. If this deal goes through, Hynix would gain DRAM manufacturing capabilities on US soil—not only strategically strengthening its global production capacity layout but also paving the way to secure orders from major US clients against a backdrop of increasingly uncertain geopolitics.

Second, the heads of three Korean tech giants—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Naver—are reportedly flying to Silicon Valley this week for a roundtable meeting with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. This marks the first time top players from storage manufacturers, the GPU霸主 (GPU powerhouse), and large model developers have sat at the same table—demonstrating a depth and breadth of industry collaboration far exceeding previous market expectations.

These signals collectively point to one conclusion: The industrial status of memory chips is undergoing a systematic reassessment. They are no longer passive, commodity-like suppliers but strategic nodes in the AI infrastructure chain, ranked equally with the GPU.

Market opinion suggests that the second half of the memory super cycle may have just officially begun.

II. But Don't Pop the Champagne Just Yet—The Fate of Cyclical Stocks Won't Disappear

That said, "the second half has begun" doesn't mean "you can blindly chase the rally."

The memory chip industry has an iron law that you cannot ignore, no matter how bullish you are on the current demand surge—cyclicality.

History repeatedly tells us that the cyclical peaks in the semiconductor industry often end with declines of 30% to 50%. This is not speculation; it's the standard outcome for every memory super cycle over the past two decades.

The current second half may indeed be underway, but that doesn't mean the valuation bubbles left over from the first half have been fully digested. The second half can make you money, but it can also lose you money.

III. An Easily Overlooked "Hidden Landmine": SK Hynix ADR's 29.8% Premium

If you chased the rally in SK Hynix's US-listed ADR (SKHY) last night, there is a real risk potentially bearing down on your holdings.

Currently, SKHY's stock price is around $173, but it trades at a premium of approximately 29.8% compared to the underlying stock of Hynix on the Korean KOSPI market. After accounting for this premium, the fair value derived from the Korean stock is roughly around $120.

More critically: On July 29th, which is just 5 trading days away, the SKHY ADR will become fungible with the underlying Korean stock.

What does this mean? It means arbitrage funds can buy the cheaper underlying stock on the Korean market and convert it into ADRs to sell on the US market—pocketing nearly 30% premium through this operation. As a large influx of arbitrage capital occurs, the ADR price will be forcibly dragged downwards towards parity with the underlying stock.

Even if the Korean underlying stock itself doesn't fall, SKHY could still drop significantly due to the premium convergence. If you chased it at a high premium above $170, this risk isn't just theoretical—it's right there in your position details.

IV. Final Thoughts: Bullish on Direction, Bumpy on the Journey—Options Are the Best "Safety Belt" Right Now

Combining the above analysis, the current situation can be summed up in one sentence: The big picture is bullish, but the journey will be full of bumps.

You may agree that the second half of the memory super cycle has begun, but you also know that cyclical stocks can face a 30%+ correction at any time.

In times like these—"believing in the direction but fearing the process"—options are the most suitable risk management tool.

The options feature on the BIT platform will officially launch this week. When it does, you will be able to:

• Hold the underlying stock + Buy Put Options: Use a small premium to lock in your downside risk within an acceptable range.
• Buy Both Calls and Puts: Earnings season brings high volatility. Unsure about the direction? Bet on both sides. As long as the volatility is significant enough, you can profit.
• Buy Call Options in One Direction: Bullish on the second half but don't want to go all-in on the underlying stock? Use options to get leveraged exposure with limited risk, where the maximum loss is the premium paid.

Margin longs, margin shorts, and option insurance—three directions, one platform. In the second half of the memory super cycle, you can both seize the opportunity for gains and protect your downside during corrections.

Risk Warning: Options trading involves risk and may result in a total loss of the premium paid. Using margin further amplifies these risks. The strategies and figures above are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Actual trading results will vary based on market conditions. Please make decisions carefully according to your own risk tolerance.