China's YMTC Global NAND Market Share Surges To 13%, Now Tied With Sandisk

Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC), China's largest maker of NAND flash memory which is breathing down Sandisk's neck in global sales, and which is widely expected to IPO soon after China's DDR giant CXMT goes public in the coming weeks, has increased its global NAND flash memory market share from 8% in the same period in 2025 to 13%, Kuai Technology reported citing the latest Counterpoint research report.

According to Counterpoint, Samsung ranks first in the global NAND market with a 29% revenue share, followed by SK Hynix at 18%, while YMTC ranks fifth, tied with Sandisk, and is about to tie Japan's Kioxia for fourth position in global marketshare. YMTC increased its market share to 13% from 8% in Q1 2025, boosted by memory shortages and rising prices.

The Wuhan-based YMTC has recorded double-digit growth for three consecutive quarters, with revenue reaching $2.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up nearly 445% year-on-year.

Major Korean players such as Samsung and SK Hynix said that the pace of Chinese memory chipmakers’ catch-up has exceeded expectations.

According to the latest report from market research firm Counterpoint Research, YMTC has become the fastest-growing company in the global NAND market. Korean industry insiders believe that its rapid expansion in both technology and production capacity is directly threatening the market positions of Samsung and SK Hynix.

Amid the global shortage for DDR and NAND ram, China is rapidly emerging as the biggest wildcard. With both CXMT and YMTC expected to go public shortly and raise billions in new capital, expect China to aggressively pursue market share in the only way that China knows how: by aggressively undercutting all its competitors on price. 

In April, DigiTimes reported that YMTC passed Apple’s verification test and will begin supplying storage chips for the company in May. YMTC would become the first Chinese company to supply Apple with NAND chips, and Apple’s third flash memory chip supplier after US-based Kioxia and Korea-based SK Hynix.

A report by Bloomberg said that Apple has been testing chips from Yangtze Memory for months, but the deal has yet to be confirmed, with Apple currently weighing different options. In light of the recent price increases by Apple, one can be absolutely certain that Apple will announce - in weeks if not days - a major commercial partnership with YMTC which will aggressively undercut all of its flash competitors on price as it sees to catch up to Korean giants Samsung and SK Hynix. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 15:00
https://ift.tt/kxU3zXj
from ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/kxU3zXj
via IFTTT

China's YMTC Global NAND Market Share Surges To 13%, Now Tied With Sandisk

Micron Soars After Reporting Blowout Earnings, Boosts Guidance

Step aside Nvidia: as we noted in our preview, with the world's most valuable company going nowhere in recent months, all attention has shifted to Micron, which has rapidly become one of the most important stocks in the world and certainly the most actively traded, surpassing both Nvidia and Tesla in recent days.

As such all eyes were on Micron's earnings today, and even with "sentiment at 11/10", according to UBS, the company still managed to blow away expectations for its Q3 earnings while delivering a sales forecast that topped Wall Street estimates after AI-fueled shortages of the components sent prices soaring.  

Here is what it just reported for the just concluded May/Q3 fiscal quarter:

Starting with the bottom line...

• Adjusted EPS $25.11, beating consensus of $20.49.

We then go to the top of the income statement: 

• Adjusted Revenue $$41.46BN, smashing all sellside estimates of $$35.69BN, and even well above the most optimistic buyside bogeys.
  • Cloud Memory revenue $13.77 billion, beating estimate $10.69 billion
  • Core Data Center revenue $11.52 billion, beating estimate $6.8 billion
  • Mobile and Client Revenue $11.52 billion vs. $3.26 billion y/y, beating estimate $9.73 billion
  • Automotive and Embedded rev. $4.63 billion, beating estimate $3.51 billion
• Adjusted gross margin 84.9% vs. 39% y/y, beating estimate 81.9% 
• Adjusted operating income margin 81.2% vs. 26.8% y/y, beating estimate 77.9%
• R&D expenses $1.32 billion, +36% y/y, higher than estimate $1.29 billion 
• Adjusted operating expenses $1.52 billion, +34% y/y, beating estimate $1.43 billion

Looking ahead, the company's forecast is just as impressive:

• Micron sees Q4 adjusted Revenue of $49-$51BN, beating estimates of $43.24BN
• Sees adjusted EPS $30 to $32, beating estimate $25.31
• Sees adjusted gross margin about 86%, beating estimate 83.6%
• Sees adjusted operating expenses about $1.65 billion, below estimate $1.66 billion

Commenting on the quarter, the company said that “Micron is investing at record levels in technology, products and supply to address our customers’ rapidly growing demand. We believe our multi-year Strategic Customer Agreements will significantly enhance the durability and predictability of Micron’s strong financial performance.”

More important was the company's discussion of its long-term agreements, i.e. "Strategic Customer Agreement". This is what it said in the accompanying presentation:

• We are pleased to announce that we have completed 16 SCAs with customers across the data center, consumer and auto market segments. These SCAs accelerate the transformation of our business model, enhance partnership in technology and innovation, and provide customers with contracted supply assurance.
• Typically, these agreements have a five-year term, from calendar 2026 through the end of calendar 2030. Automotive agreements generally have a three-year term.
• The 16 signed agreements represent roughly 20% of our DRAM volume and a third of our NAND volume over this period.
• These SCAs include four very large customers and three medium-sized customers.
• The remaining agreements relate to smaller customers from the automotive industry and represent our commitment to this important sector.
• When completed, we expect approximately half or more of our company revenue to be under these SCAs with customers across end markets. Our customers value our U.S. supply plans, and this is reflected in our SCAs.
• These SCAs are structured as take-or-pay agreements, with binding commitments to purchase specific volumes over this multi-year term.
• The largest agreements generally have a ceiling price for existing products at the current CQ2 (calendar Q2) market price, and a floor price through the term of the agreement.
• Several SCAs, which account for a modest portion of the SCA-related revenue, include either fixed prices or have no price bands associated with them where pricing will be subject to market conditions. When all planned SCAs are executed, agreements with either fixed prices or price ceilings at or close to current CQ2 market prices are expected to be approximately 40% of our revenue.
• For SCAs which do contain such price bands, pricing is designed to stay within this floor to ceiling level through the course of the term. This pricing visibility will help our SCA customers across market segments to better manage their business and grow their demand.
• For our SCAs with price bands, the floor price enables a very robust gross margin for Micron, well above our peak quarterly margins in any past cycle.
• 14 of the 16 SCAs that we have signed have a cumulative revenue at minimum price per our contracts of approximately $100 billion over the remaining agreement term.
• They also strengthen our long-term financial performance, margins and free cash flow expectations, with higher visibility and improved stability in our business performance.
• Under the SCAs we have signed so far, we project to receive cash deposits and related financial commitments of $22 billion. This further demonstrates customer commitment to this new business model. Mark will provide additional details.
• Our SCAs with customers across data center to consumer devices to auto and industrial applications create a new paradigm for us to strengthen our customer relationships. They provide committed DRAM, including HBM as appropriate, and NAND supply to our customers over a multi-year time horizon.
• In a period of significant shortage, this supply visibility is extremely beneficial to our customers. This visibility enables our customers to leverage SCA supply to make progress on their strategic plans, drive growth and enable their end consumers to benefit from their products and services. We are very appreciative of our customers, who have worked with us through this period of tight supply with a strong collaborative spirit to create win-win outcomes for the long term for the entire ecosystem and end consumers.

Micron and its peers in the memory space — Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix — have become major beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom. A spending spree by data center operators has stoked the appetite for both conventional memory and a newer variety called high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, that works with AI systems.

Micron has struggled to satisfy memory-chip demand, creating shortages in areas like computers, phones and cars. Though the company is expanding its manufacturing capacity, prices are expected to remain high for the foreseeable future. 

Micron works with Nvidia to integrate its memory into AI infrastructure. Earlier this month, Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang confirmed that his company will rely on Micron’s HBM4 memory, along with those of its rivals, for its next-generation Vera Rubin platform. All three of the major memory makers have been jockeying for a slice of that business. 

Meanwhile, SK Hynix, which currently leads the HBM market, just announced plans for a stock listing in the US. The company is seeking roughly $29 billion in the offering, aiming to further capitalize on memory demand.

In a note published by Goldman's analyst, James Schneider, he write the following post-earnings observations:

• Key stock takeaways: We expect the stock to move higher following a quarter and guidance that were well ahead of the Street, despite elevated investor expectations given continued industry pricing momentum for both DRAM and NAND markets. We expect investors to focus on critical elements of management's commentary on today's conference call, including (1) additional color on the company's 16 Strategic Customer Agreements; (2) potential updates to the company's FY27 CapEx outlook; (3) market color on the conventional DRAM and NAD segments.
• Quarterly results were well above the Street: Micron reported revenue of $41.46 bn, well above GS at $37.58 bn and the Street at $36.28 bn, while gross margin of 84.9% was above GS at 83.4% and the Street at 82.5%. Non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 was also well above GS at $22.07 and the Street at $21.05. DRAM revenue of $31.33 bn was well above GS at $28.30 bn and the Street at $28.21 bn, while NAND revenue of $9.94 bn was also above GS at $9.18 bn and the Street at $7.77 bn.
• FY4Q guidance is well above the Street. Micron guided FY4Q well above the Street on revenue and margins. Revenue was guided to $50.00 bn at the midpoint, which is well above GS at $48.77 bn and the Street at $43.34 bn. Non-GAAP gross margin was guided to 86%, in line with GS at 86.1% and above the Street at 84.6%. Non-GAAP EPS guidance of $30.00 - $32.00 (midpoint of $31.00) was above GS at $29.95 and well above the Street at $25.77.
• Read-through to our coverage: We expect a positive initial reaction for SNDK (Buy) in our coverage given similar end-market exposure. 
• Price target and risks: Our 12-month target price of $900 is based on a 18X P/E multiple applied to our normalized EPS estimate of $50.00. Key upside/downside risks include: (1) continued execution on the company's HBM roadmap and share gain vis-a-vis Samsung, (2) sizable step-up (above current expectations) in HBM content for AI accelerators, (3) continued signs of CXMT gaining DRAM market share, negatively impacting pricing dynamics.

In kneejerk response, the stock which slid in the past 2 days, has recovered most of the losses and has surged more than 10% rising to $1136 after briefly dipping below $1000 just before the market closed.

The company's investor presentation is below (pdf link)

Micron Q3 26 Earnings Deck by Zerohedge

Tyler Durden Wed, 06/24/2026 - 16:19
https://ift.tt/xQOP8hA
from ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/xQOP8hA
via IFTTT

Micron Soars After Reporting Blowout Earnings, Boosts Guidance

The Burden Of History: Justice Jackson's Curious Call To Overturn Critical 2nd Amendment Precedent

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Since her confirmation in 2022, Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson has established a legacy that is fast becoming one of the most radical in the Court’s history. Her sole dissents have drawn sharp criticism from both her conservative and liberal colleagues. However, for critics of some of these decisions, Justice Jackson continues to publish opinions that are not just, as she describes it, cathartic but chilling. Worse yet, the latest judicial jump scare was shared by her colleague, Justice Sonya Sotomayor, in her concurring opinion in United States v. Hemani..

At issue in the case was an effort to prosecute Ali Hemani for recreational use of marijuana, a prosecution that threatened up to 15 years and to strip him of his gun rights under  18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3)

Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch ruled that the provision was not "consistent with the Second Amendment." Gorsuch noted that Hemani was not alleged to be a drug addict or to have used his guns in a menacing manner.

Gorsuch wrote that the "historical laws on which it relies targeted different kinds of people, did so for different reasons, and operated in different ways."

However, Jackson used the concurrence to argue for overturning NYSRPA v. Bruen, a case critical to laying the foundation for interpreting the Second Amendment based on historical precedent. Jackson lashed out at the"'history and tradition' metric" and called for the Court to "revisit" the case.

Declaring Bruen "unworkable," Jackson called for the restoration of the "means-end scrutiny - the approach courts applied before we adopted Bruen's 'history and tradition' metric - offers a more rational way of assessing the constitutionality of firearm regulations."

The reason for undoing Bruen? According to Jackson, "it imposes on judges the unfamiliar and difficult tasks of sifting through centuries-old evidence in order to answer 'contested historical questions,' and 'applying those answers to resolve contemporary problems.'"

Justice Jackson added that "Given those challenges, it is unsurprising that Bruen's test is vulnerable to inconsistent and arbitrary application, as judges draw different conclusions from the same historical evidence and reach divergent assessments of the same laws."

The burden of actually seeking to understand the intended meaning of a constitutional provision is certainly greater than the more free-style approach of Jackson who focused on how to "resolve contemporary problems" under a living Constitution. However, to suggest that her outcome-determinative approach is less inconsistent and arbitrary is only true when you control the Court with justices who have like-minded "solutions" for contemporary problems.

That is precisely what many Democrats have in mind as they openly pledge to pack the Court with an insistent liberal majority if they can retake power. Moreover, Jackson is often cited as the model of the left, a justice who is unburdened by the language and history of constitutional provisions.

Just last week, liberal Wisconsin State Supreme Court justices heralded Jackson’s approach in arguing for the restoration of race-based gerrymandering. The state jurists lamented not being able to interpret the Constitution to address the “harms this country has caused to those who are marginalized, disempowered, or disenfranchised,” including the “preference for White Americans and to burden Black Americans and those of other disadvantaged races or backgrounds.”

These federal and state Supreme Court opinions are a glimpse into what awaits the country if Democratic leaders carry out their threat to take over the Supreme Court by adding four liberal justices in the image of Justice Jackson.

It is not simply the desire to immediately overturn prior cases but to establish a largely untethered jurisprudence driven by judicial fiat and impulse. It is certainly an easier way to write opinions and would clear the way for a stated agenda on the left to maintain power indefinitely.

Before voters "unburden" these jurists, they need to seriously consider the costs of eviscerating an institution that has been vital in maintaining this Republic for the last 250 years.

Here is the opinion: United States v. Hemani

onathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/23/2026 - 13:45
https://ift.tt/xLMUuvH
from ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/xLMUuvH
via IFTTT

The Burden Of History: Justice Jackson's Curious Call To Overturn Critical 2nd Amendment Precedent

Definium Soars As Much As 50% After LSD-Based Depression Drug Meets Late-Stage Clinical Trial Goal

Definium Therapeutics shares surged as much as 54% on Monday, reaching $37.90 in morning trading as investors reacted positively to developments in the biotech company's research pipeline and potential strategic opportunities.

Definium Therapeutics said its LSD-based depression drug, DT120, met the main goal of a mid-stage trial, reducing depression scores by 8.1 points more than placebo after six weeks, according to Reuters.

Patients showed improvement within one week after a single dose, with benefits remaining at 12 weeks. Analysts had said a 4–5 point placebo-adjusted improvement would be a strong result.

DT120, a psychedelic that activates serotonin receptors, was generally well tolerated, with mostly mild side effects occurring on dosing day and no serious safety concerns.

The trial included 149 adults with major depressive disorder, a condition affecting about 21 million U.S. adults. Recent U.S. policy has also encouraged faster development of psychedelic-based mental health treatments.

We noted back in April that psychedelic stocks were going "mainstream", pointing them out as one of the more interesting policy-driven biotech themes, arguing that a supportive regulatory backdrop could become a meaningful catalyst for the sector.

Since then, momentum has accelerated. The FDA unveiled new measures to speed research into psychedelic treatments for serious mental health conditions, while President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to expand access to promising emerging therapies. The moves could accelerate development timelines for treatments targeting depression, PTSD, addiction, and other difficult-to-treat disorders. 

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/22/2026 - 15:45
https://ift.tt/udmsCMR
from ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/udmsCMR
via IFTTT

Definium Soars As Much As 50% After LSD-Based Depression Drug Meets Late-Stage Clinical Trial Goal

Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Race-Based Scholarships As Unconstitutional

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down a state-funded scholarship program that awarded financial aid based on the race of college students. The Democrat-controlled court followed the precedent laid out by the United States Supreme Court in finding that Gov. Tony Evers and the state were violating the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.

Two of the most liberal justices, however, wrote a concurrence denouncing the bar on the use of race for such scholarships.

If Democrats are able to pack the Supreme Court as demanded by many party leaders, this concurrence is an example of the likely changes that a packed court will bring in reversing anti-discrimination and other rulings.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty represented the taxpayers in this successful challenge of the Wisconsin Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant Program.

That program administered taxpayer-funded grants of up to $2,500 per academic year to eligible students of Black American, American Indian, Hispanic, or certain Southeast Asian backgrounds.

The state paid out roughly half a million dollars in scholarships, now found to be racially discriminatory.

Citing the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Court reaffirmed that “The Constitution requires that every person ‘must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race.’”

While many have heralded the new bright line against racial discrimination in higher education, two of the most liberal justices, Chief Justice Jill Karofsky and Susan Crawford, lamented the loss of racially discriminatory programs.

In her concurrence, Chief Justice Karofsky captured the sweeping, open-ended rationales used for such programs:

“Why have we not learned from our past? Why are we not willing to recognize the harms this country has caused to those who are marginalized, disempowered, or disenfranchised? Why, instead of wielding the Equal Protection Clause as a sword against racism, do we employ it to shield against the promise of equality for all? The answer appears to be because we have failed to fully recognize how societal and governmental practices have long continued to enforce a preference for White Americans and to burden Black Americans and those of other disadvantaged races or backgrounds.”

These justices would continue race-based programs indefinitely under the claim that there is a “preference for White Americans” in programs that focus purely on academic achievement or specific non-racial criteria.

The two justices quote from the dissent of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson that requiring race-neutral rules is just more “let-them-eat-cake obliviousness” by a white privileged society.

She added, “I fully recognize and acknowledge that I am bound by the precedent set forth in SFFA and other cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court…However, I also choose to write separately. I do so because I find it impossible to ignore the truths that Justice Jackson identifies.”

Notably, those “truths” from the Jackson dissent have been challenged as containing glaring false claims.

I have previously discussed my disagreements with Jackson and her jurisprudence, including her dissent in the SFFA case. However, this concurrence vividly shows the jurists whom the Democrats could call upon to pack the Supreme Court to reverse decisions like the one in SFFA.

With various Democratic leaders now openly pledging to pack the Court to reverse such decisions, the 2028 election is becoming a referendum on the future of an institution that has proven key to maintaining this Republic for 250 years.

Democratic politicians and pundits have made clear that they need the immediate control of the Supreme Court to carry out an agenda that would be struck down as unconstitutional. That includes reversing core constitutional rulings. The Karofsky concurrence offers a glimpse into our future if we allow the Court to be the object of a political hostile takeover.

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/21/2026 - 16:20
https://ift.tt/KnUIEG9
from ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/KnUIEG9
via IFTTT

Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Race-Based Scholarships As Unconstitutional