👉 If you had to choose only one today – SK hynix, Micron, or SanDisk – which would you pick?

Today we look at three companies: SK hynix $HY9H.F $SKHY , Micron $MU and SanDisk $SNDK . Each benefits from growing memory demand in a slightly different way. But SK hynix deserves the most attention.

🧠 Why are memories so important for AI?

A GPU can be extremely powerful, but if it can't get data fast enough, its performance can't be fully utilized. That's why HBM – High Bandwidth Memory – is so crucial for AI accelerators.

HBM offers enormous bandwidth and sits right next to the compute chip. As AI models grow larger and GPUs more powerful, the amount of HBM needed per accelerator also rises.

This is exactly where SK hynix has a very strong position.

👑 SK hynix = huge strength in HBM, DRAM and NAND!

SK hynix isn't some small manufacturer trying to ride the current AI trend. It ranks among the largest memory companies in the world.

Just look...

HBM: 56.4% of the world market by revenue – 1st place

DRAM : 25% – 2nd place

NAND: 19% - 2nd place

That means SK hynix controlled half of the global HBM market.

And I consider HBM the most interesting part of the whole story.

The company already started mass shipments of HBM4 in the second quarter of 2026 and is also working on the next generation HBM4E. SK hynix also states it has longer-term agreements with roughly ten key customers.

In my opinion, this matters also because of one historical problem of memory companies – cyclicality.

Memories have always been very sensitive to supply and demand. When manufacturers built too much capacity, prices plunged and profits with them.

Longer-term contracts and growing HBM demand can mitigate some of this volatility. But they certainly won't eliminate it entirely.

HBM → AI accelerators DRAM → servers and data centers NAND → enterprise SSDs and data storage

And this combination is, in my view, what makes SK hynix most interesting.

💽 SanDisk – a different kind of bet

SanDisk is a bit of a different story.

Unlike SK hynix and Micron, the main bet isn't on HBM and DRAM. It focuses primarily on NAND Flash and data storage.

And that's where it can profit from another part of AI development – from the enormous amount of data that data centers will need to store.

So SanDisk isn't a direct substitute for SK hynix or Micron, but rather a different way to gain exposure to data center growth.

Micron – my personal favorite

Still, from an investment perspective, Micron intrigued me the most out of these three.

Not because it has a stronger position than SK hynix – it doesn't currently have that in HBM.

I like Micron mainly because it's a US company traded on Nasdaq, while the investor still gets exposure to DRAM, NAND, and fast-growing HBM.

Micron is also increasing HBM shipments, and current demand for server and data center memory is helping it significantly.

So my thinking is fairly simple:

SK hynix fascinates me with its market position. But Micron personally makes more sense to me as an investment due to the US market and similar exposure to the entire memory cycle.

⚔️ How do I view these three companies?

👑 SK hynix – I was most impressed by its dominance in HBM. More than half of the HBM market, almost a third of the broader DRAM market, and a strong position in NAND as well.

🇺🇸 Micron – my personal favorite from an investment standpoint. Similar memory exposure, but through a US company.

💾 SanDisk – more interesting primarily as a bet on NAND, enterprise SSDs, and the growing need for data storage.

And that's exactly why I think that after the massive growth of GPU-related companies, it's worth watching another part of AI infrastructure – memory, because without ever faster and larger memories, even ever more powerful AI chips won't work.

👉 If you had to choose only one today – SK hynix, Micron, or SanDisk – which would you pick?