Wall Street heavyweight Bank of America (BofA) has released a research report titled "Storage Supercycle Engulfs the Globe," reinforcing the market's strongest trading thesis—that global storage products are entering an unprecedented supercycle. Driven by OpenAI's $1.4 trillion AI computing infrastructure agreements and projects like "Stargate," demand for massive enterprise-grade high-performance storage (including HBM systems, enterprise SSDs/HDDs, and server-grade DDR5) is skyrocketing, fueling price hikes and stock rallies for storage giants.

Year-to-date, leading memory chipmakers SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron Technology have seen triple-digit stock gains, while enterprise storage players like Seagate, SanDisk, and Western Digital have surged over 200%, with SanDisk—a leader in enterprise SSD systems—soaring 500%. These gains far outpace broader equity markets.

BofA analysts highlight SK Hynix's dominance in HBM4/4e and HBM3e, making it the preferred supplier for NVIDIA, Google, and OpenAI. The bank forecasts persistent DRAM shortages through 2026, with prices and margins having significant upside (e.g., some DRAM contract prices, already up 100% this year, could rise another 50% in six months). Enterprise SSD-led NAND optimism and HDD pricing are also climbing.

BofA projects this storage supercycle will last until early 2027, driven by HBM3e/HBM4/4e, DRAM, and NAND demand. It raises SK Hynix and Samsung's price targets by 50% and 40%, respectively, citing a sector-wide "valuation re-rating" phase.

Google's Gemini 3 AI launch has further intensified AI computing needs, underscoring Wall Street's view that the AI boom remains in its early infrastructure-building stage. Analysts agree memory leaders like Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung will be key beneficiaries, as AI data centers require HBM systems, server DDR5, and enterprise SSDs.

With SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron shifting capacity to complex HBM production, traditional storage products face shortages. Recent earnings from Samsung, SK Hynix, Western Digital, and Seagate prompted BofA, Morgan Stanley, and Mizuho to declare the "storage supercycle" underway, fueled by AI-driven DRAM/NAND demand—particularly HBM and server DDR5.

BofA notes HBM4/4e will be critical for next-gen AI chips like Google TPUs and NVIDIA Blackwell/Rubin, with SK Hynix leading in production. Its 80,000 KRW target implies 50% upside, while Samsung's 140,000 KRW target reflects DRAM and foundry recovery potential.

DRAM contract prices could rise another 50% in six months, though spot prices may correct slightly. BofA expects NVIDIA’s GPU demand and Google’s new TPUs to sustain DRAM/NAND price momentum. The bank also highlights a "DRAM supercycle," with 1c-node technology dominating 50% of Korean DRAM capacity by 2026.

For NAND, SK Hynix remains cautious on capacity expansion, focusing instead on HBM/DRAM. However, enterprise SSD demand is boosting optimism, with SanDisk’s data center eSSD contracts poised for further gains.