Memory, storage stocks rise after Apple warns of price hikes

Shares of Micron, SanDisk, Seagate and Western Digital climbed in premarket trading after Tim Cook warned that rising memory and storage chip costs could force Apple to raise product prices. Micron rose about 4.7%, SanDisk gained roughly 4.4%, Seagate advanced around 4% and Western Digital climbed more than 5% in early trading.

Cook warned the company has tried to absorb rising component costs, adding, “unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable” and calling the situation “unsustainable.” He did not specify when any price increases might take effect or which products would be affected.

The comments came as Apple prepares a new device lineup reportedly including a foldable iPhone and the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models expected in September. Cook is set to hand over leadership to John Ternus on Sept. 1.

Cook noted there is less supply at a time when consumer demand is strong and that memory makers are passing along large price increases. He suggested considering all supply options, including domestic manufacturers in China, and noted U.S. companies generally require government licenses to engage with those firms. “Everything needs to be on the table,” he said.

Demand from artificial intelligence data centers is increasing use of high-bandwidth memory for advanced AI servers. Industry estimates project demand for AI-focused high-bandwidth memory could grow about 30% annually through 2030, reducing capacity available for smartphones, personal computers, vehicles and gaming consoles.

Micron’s shares have gained more than 230% year to date, Western Digital about 280%, SanDisk more than 610% and Seagate over 270%. Deutsche Bank raised its price target on Micron to $1,500 from $1,000. Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring raised his targets for Seagate to $1,035 from $767 and for Western Digital to $650 from $488; both stocks have since exceeded those targets. Western Digital closed Wednesday at $712.13 and Seagate at just over $1,066.

Storage hardware demand has also increased as cloud providers and data centers expand capacity to support large-scale storage and AI inferencing workloads. Analysts say higher demand for hard disk drives and flash memory has tightened supply for both device classes.

The stock gains followed Cook’s comments and ongoing memory and storage supply tightness. Apple did not provide a timeline for possible product price changes.