Micron, Samsung and SK hynix profit as CXMT expands DRAM capacity
Micron, Samsung and SK hynix are collecting extraordinary profits as AI-driven demand and constrained supply push DRAM prices higher. Micron reported DRAM average selling prices rose about 180% year over year; in fiscal 2026 revenue totaled $133.19 billion, up 256% from $37.38 billion a year earlier, GAAP gross margin rose from 39.8% to 80.7%, and net income jumped to $84.97 billion from $8.54 billion. Bit shipments grew only in the mid-20% range. China's CXMT is advancing DDR5, LPDDR5X and next-generation DRAM despite U.S. equipment restrictions and plans to grow wafer capacity roughly 83% to 550,000 wafers per month by 2028. CXMT needs only enough competitive capacity to shift the supply-demand balance and potentially collapse the scarcity premium that has fueled the established manufacturers' extraordinary profits; technological parity is not required.
AI-driven demand and constrained supply have lifted DRAM prices and memory makers' profits sharply, confirming a strong AI infrastructure boom; however, this is a semiconductor earnings story with no direct crypto capital flows or price signals. CXMT's planned capacity expansion is a forward-looking supply risk for DRAM pricing, but it does not shift near-term crypto variables. The crypto impact is indirect, tied only to AI-narrative risk appetite, so short-term neutral (weak).