HK Stock Market Move | Storage concept collective high AI boom drives surge in storage chip demand SK Hynix Q1 profit nearly quadruples

Storage concept collectively opened high. As of the time of drafting, CSOP Samsung Electronics Daily (2x) Leveraged Product (07747) rose 9.98%, to 97.88 Hong Kong dollars; GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. (03986) rose 6%, to 477 Hong Kong dollars; Montage Technology (06809) rose 3.74%, to 232.8 Hong Kong dollars; CSOP SK Hynix Daily (2x) Leveraged Product (07709) rose 0.32%, to 43.36 Hong Kong dollars. On the news front, benefiting from the surge in demand for storage chips driven by the artificial intelligence boom, SK Hynix's stock price soared 3.5%, reaching a historical high. The storage chip giant announced its best quarterly performance ever in the morning, with first-quarter revenue of 52.57 trillion Korean won, a year-on-year increase of 198.1%; operating profit of 37.61 trillion Korean won, a year-on-year increase of 405.5%; net profit of 40.35 trillion Korean won, an increase of 398% year-on-year, higher than the expected 30.4 trillion Korean won. The average selling price of DRAM in the first quarter increased by about 60% compared to the fourth quarter, while the average selling price of NAND in the first quarter increased by about 70% compared to the fourth quarter. CITIC SEC recently pointed out that the current expansion of storage original factories faces both subjective and objective constraints, with limited effective capacity release expected by 2026 and substantial new capacity release not expected until the end of 2027 or 2028. The release of new capacity is also expected to have limited room for growth in supply speed. In the AI era, storage is the core, and the industry is undergoing a long-term paradigm shift. The mismatch between AI-driven demand explosion and original factory expansion has led to a normalization of shortages, with supply shortages expected to continue at least until 2027, and price increases expected throughout 2026. The firm remains optimistic about the trend of the storage industry, with the industry expected to maintain a high level of prosperity.