Is it time to focus on the continued rise of semiconductor storage?

Last night's U.S. stock market chip sector continued its strong upward momentum.

Micron closed up about 12%, SanDisk up 14%, and SK Hynix up 13%. The gains of these three storage chip giants are comparable to the intraday volatility of altcoins in the cryptocurrency market. Moreover, the impact of this surge goes beyond the numbers themselves—it directly shattered the consensus that had gradually formed in the market over the past few weeks regarding the "memory cycle peaking."

"The super cycle of storage chips has ended"—this judgment, which had sounded increasingly persuasive, was overturned overnight by capital with real money.

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

On the surface, this is a revenge rebound driven by emotions. However, upon dissecting the driving factors, we find that two deeper industrial logics are being repriced.

Logic One: Storage Becomes the "Second Ticket"

For the past two years, the narrative core of the AI industry chain has revolved around one word—GPU. Nvidia is the sole king; whoever buys the most GPUs leads in the AI arms race.

But now, this narrative is undergoing a critical expansion.

Nvidia's next-generation AI chip architecture, Vera Rubin, has entered the mass production and shipping phase. This chip's demand for memory bandwidth and capacity has reached unprecedented heights—the parameter scale on the model side is also expanding simultaneously. Meanwhile, the 28 trillion parameters of Kimi K3 mean that HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), DRAM, and traditional storage must be loaded continuously during the inference process, rather than being moved back and forth between the CPU and GPU as in the past.

In simpler terms: storage is no longer an "accessory" to GPUs; it is becoming an independent bottleneck that determines the performance of AI systems, on par with GPUs.

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

Logic Two: The Industry Is Doubling Down, Not Contracting

In contrast to the pessimistic narrative of "capital expenditure peaking," actual actions at the industrial level show that players are doubling down rather than hitting the brakes.

Recent news can also explain this phenomenon:

First, SK Hynix is rumored to be negotiating to acquire Intel's wafer fab in Ohio. If this deal is reached, Hynix will have DRAM manufacturing capabilities on U.S. soil—this is not only a strategic reinforcement of its global production capacity layout but also paves the way for securing orders from major U.S. clients amid increasing geopolitical uncertainties.

Second, the heads of 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 top players from storage 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 collectively point to one judgment: the industrial status of storage chips is being systematically reassessed. It is no longer a passive supplier like a commodity but a strategic node on par with GPUs in the AI infrastructure chain.

Market views suggest that the second half of the storage super cycle may have just officially begun.

2. But Don't Rush to Pop the Champagne—The Fate of Cyclical Stocks Won't 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 peaks of the semiconductor industry often end with declines of 30% to 50%. This is not a guess; it is the standard outcome of every storage super cycle over the past twenty years. The current second half may indeed have begun, but that does not mean the valuation bubble left over from the first half has been completely digested. The second half can be profitable, but it can also incur losses.

3. An Easily Overlooked "Hidden Risk": SK Hynix ADR's 29.8% Premium

If you chased after SK Hynix's U.S. ADR (SKHY) last night, there is a risk that may be genuinely approaching your holdings.

Currently, SKHY's stock price is about $173, but it has a premium of approximately 29.8% compared to Hynix's stock on the Korean KOSPI market. After deducting this premium, the reasonable value calculated based on the Korean stock is about $120.

More critically: on July 29, just five trading days later, SKHY's ADR will open for exchange with the Korean stock.

What does this mean? It means that arbitrage funds can buy the cheaper stock in the Korean market and then convert it to ADR to sell in the U.S. market—earning nearly a 30% premium through this operation. When a large amount of arbitrage capital flows in, the ADR price will be forcibly pulled down to align with the stock price.

Even if the Korean stock itself does not drop, SKHY may still fall significantly due to the convergence of the premium. If you entered at a high premium range above $170, this risk is not just on paper; it is in your holding details.

4. In Conclusion: The Direction Looks Good, But the Process Is Bumpy—Options Are the Best "Safety Belt" Right Now

In summary, the current situation can be encapsulated in one sentence: the overall direction looks good, but the process is full of bumps.

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

In this moment of "faith in direction but fear of process," options are the most suitable risk management tool.

The options feature on the BIT platform will soon be launched, allowing you to:

• Hold the underlying stock + buy put options: Lock down downside risk within an acceptable range with a small premium.

• Buy both directions simultaneously: Earnings season is volatile, uncertain about ups and downs? 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 chase the underlying stock with all your funds? Use options to leverage with a small investment, with the maximum loss being just the premium.

Financing to go long, short selling to go short, options insurance—three directions, one platform, allowing you to seize the opportunity for an upward trend while also safeguarding the bottom line during corrections.

Risk Warning: Options trading involves risks and may result in the total loss of the premium paid; using it in conjunction with financing will further amplify risks. The above strategies and figures are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute investment advice; actual trading results may vary due to market conditions. Please make decisions cautiously based on your own risk tolerance.