Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix all fall from highs
Fundamentals remain strong
Hyperscaler capex guides are the next catalyst
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“After a blistering AI-fuelled rally, the world’s three biggest memory chipmakers have suffered a sharp correction, with Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix all falling heavily in the past month. But the sell-off looks less like a sudden collapse in the AI story and more like a crowded trade coming unstuck. After a huge run, too many investors were leaning the same way, so an ordinary pullback quickly became a chain reaction. A string of unhelpful stories about potential export controls, Chinese supply coming online, and Data Centre moratoriums has added to concerns.
We certainly don’t dismiss these risks, but we don’t expect a material change to the medium-term demand picture. The fundamentals remain exceptionally strong. AI systems need vast amounts of high-bandwidth memory, supply remains tight and long-term customer agreements give producers unusually good visibility, while new capacity takes years to build and ramp. The market is now worrying about what comes next, but we see little evidence so far that these threats are large enough to break the cycle.
That leaves memory stocks caught between a strong earnings outlook and a market that was looking for an excuse to pump on the brakes. A lasting move back toward recent highs will need reassurance from the big AI spenders that investment plans remain intact, and if that arrives, sidelined buyers could quickly return. For now, this looks more like a healthy reset in the hottest corner of the AI market than the end of the memory trade.”
Notes to Editors
HL is the UK’s largest investment and savings platform for private investors and more than 2.2 million clients trust us with £205 billion (as of June 2026).
We help Britain build wealth, with confidence. Our promise is simple: to provide the best products, the best support and the best value. Founded in 1981, we’ve been helping people save and invest for a better financial future for more than four decades. We offer a lifelong, secure home for our clients’ investments and savings, combining great value with outstanding service, to make managing your money easier at every stage of life.
Our award-winning Savings & Resilience Barometer measures the nation’s financial resilience across our 5 to Thrive pillars, equipping people with the tools they need to strengthen their financial futures.
Saving and investing is for the whole family, and to support intergenerational wealth transfer, we’ve removed all platform charges and share dealing fees on our Junior ISA, meaning kids go free, and we’ve reduced the platform fee on our Lifetime ISA to 0.25%, supporting those savings for their first home or for retirement.
Regular saving into all funds, FTSE 350 shares, and selected investment trusts and ETFs is free.
Our clients also have access to the most comprehensive pension and retirement solution, including SIPP accounts, SIPP Income Drawdown, UFPLS payments and annuities, as well as over 14,000 investment options across funds, shares, ETFs, investment trusts, bonds and gilts.
HL Active Savings is the UK's largest retail cash savings platform that lets savers easily make more of their money and the HL Cash ISA allows savers to manage their Cash ISA portfolio across multiple banks, all within one account.