Goldman Sachs' View: Storage Market Shows Structural Shifts, Partial Replacement of DRAM by NAND for Cost Reduction Becomes a Practical Trend

Citirni analyst Jukan referenced Goldman Sachs’ monthly conference call remarks on the memory sector, noting clients’ strong resistance to DRAM price hikes approaching 30%, leading to a modest downward revision of third-quarter DRAM price growth expectations. Meanwhile, the outlook for NAND has grown more optimistic: AI-related KV cache offloading demand continues to exceed expectations, paired with an emerging trend of using NAND to replace expensive DRAM, further supporting NAND demand. The analyst holds a positive view on SK Hynix’s second-quarter performance, projecting revenue of approximately 85 trillion won and a gross margin of 63%. Relevant stocks include SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk. The commentary also reveals structural shifts in the memory market. Previously, explosive HBM demand from AI servers drove DRAM prices soaring, but once price increases hit the 30% threshold, clients began resisting further hikes, leading to a temporary slowdown in the pace of DRAM price growth. NAND is taking on a new role in AI infrastructure: KV cache is critical in inference scenarios, and using cheaper NAND to partially replace expensive DRAM to reduce costs is becoming a practical trend. This divergence also implies that internal capital rotation within the storage industry chain may continue; investors should exercise greater caution regarding short-term earnings expectations for DRAM-related stocks, while the fundamental improvement in the NAND segment may not yet be fully priced in.