Memory chip shares shed $100bn as AI hardware shortage diminishes

Washington: Shares of memory chip manufacturers have shed nearly $100 billion in market value this week, as the once-acute shortage of artificial intelligence-driven hardware continues to recede—a scarcity that had previously propelled semiconductor stocks to record heights.

Micron Technology, the US memory specialist, has suffered losses exceeding $70 billion in market capitalisation since last Friday's close, a 15 percent decline amid a sweeping Wall Street sell-off, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Sandisk, the flash memory manufacturer that emerged as the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 last year, has seen approximately $15 billion erased from its valuation over the week, while data storage peers Western Digital and Seagate have each shed billions of dollars.

Travis Prentice, Chief Investment Officer at California-based asset manager Informed Momentum, observed: "These stocks had experienced astronomical gains, so it is only logical that even marginal news would trigger a pullback."

He added that the recovery in memory chip equities "does not appear to have run its course just yet, but expectations are exceedingly high, making profit-taking a prudent strategy—particularly in a volatile market environment."

Investors had been wagering on a sustained shortage of memory chips, critical components powering the data centres that drive advanced artificial intelligence models, extending well into next year.

That scarcity had positioned memory chip and storage suppliers as Wall Street's foremost beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom this year (2026), even as technology behemoths such as Nvidia, Microsoft, and Alphabet have retreated amid mounting concerns over excessive capital spending.