ARK Invest's Cathie Wood Buys Storage Chips as Prices Rise; JPMorgan Warns Against Risky Assets

Huo Xing Cai Jing reports that on October 19, Cathie Wood, founder of ARK Invest, recently stated that memory chips have entered a buy zone, as the rapid rise in memory prices and the decline in electronic device sales have already been partially reflected in stock valuations. In contrast, Michael Hartnett, Chief Investment Strategist at Bank of America Global Research, noted that the end of market sell signals does not necessarily mean it is time to buy; both key prerequisites for returning to risk assets remain unmet. The price increase in memory chips is primarily driven by AI servers consuming production capacity, prompting manufacturers to shift more capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and server DDR5, thereby tightening supply for consumer-grade memory. According to TrendForce data, DRAM contract prices are projected to rise by 90%–95% and 58%–63% sequentially in the first and second quarters of 2026, respectively, while NAND Flash contract prices are expected to increase by 55%–60% and 70%–75% in the same periods. Rising memory costs are beginning to impact the consumer electronics supply chain. Citing IDC data, the report states that global smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2026 are expected to decline by 22% year-over-year to 255.3 million units. Memory manufacturers benefit from higher prices, while end-brand companies face dual pressures from rising costs and declining sales. Key factors to monitor going forward include whether DRAM/NAND contract price increases continue to narrow, whether declines in smartphone and PC shipments improve, whether the share of memory costs in end-product material expenses has peaked, and whether memory manufacturers will reallocate capacity back toward consumer-grade products.