Chart of the Week

We believe high-bandwidth memory has been reshaping the memory industry, driven by the ongoing computing platform shift to artificial intelligence (AI). Several dynamics are leading to the memory cycle being less cyclical than in the past, and priorities have shifted from chasing market share through capacity and volume expansion to profitability and capital efficiency.

Subsequently, the memory industry has prioritized reallocating dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) capacity investments toward manufacturing high-bandwidth memory used in AI servers because margins are much more attractive. This has contributed to the recent dramatic rise in DRAM pricing, as shown in the chart above, with prices surging from around the $4 – $5 range in July 2025 to the $28 – $31 range in April 2026.

We expect momentum in AI-led high-bandwidth memory investments to continue and think the Semiconductors and Semiconductor Materials & Equipment sub-sectors within Information Technology should benefit from this cyclical upturn. At the sector level, Global Investment Strategy upgraded the Information Technology sector from neutral to favorable on April 6 due to more favorable equity sector valuations despite a favorable AI demand backdrop.

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