Memory & Storage
Where AI capex meets the tightest physical supply limit: HBM/DRAM, NAND and data-center disk. Sold-out capacity, multi-year supply agreements and an oligopoly structure concentrate pricing power in the memory makers — the shortage trade inside the AI buildout, tracked separately from the optical chain so each supply cycle reads clean.
Performance
Follow the theme against the wider market.
Series before each basket's creation date are a backtest of the membership as of creation; live tracking starts at creation.
| Return | 1 day | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days | MTD | YTD | 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basket | +7.6% | +7.9% | +18.0% | +8.5% | +5.8% | +317.8% | +867.3% |
| vs S&P 500 | +8.0% | +7.7% | +18.4% | +2.1% | +5.3% | +269.1% | +709.3% |
Inside the basket · 4 stocks
Current members and the reasoning behind each inclusion. Returns are for individual stocks.
| Why it’s included | Added | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNDK | NAND pure play (the WDC flash spin-off); enterprise SSD demand from AI data pipelines | +11.9% | +17.2% | +43.5% | +633.0% | 2026-07-21 |
| MU | HBM/DRAM oligopoly member — the tightest supply in the AI bill of materials | +6.1% | +9.0% | +15.8% | +256.4% | 2026-07-21 |
| WDC | Data-center hard drives post-spin — exabyte demand outrunning supply | +5.9% | +1.7% | +7.6% | +171.6% | 2026-07-21 |
| STX | The HDD duopoly's other half; HAMR density lead | +6.3% | +2.4% | +4.5% | +209.1% | 2026-07-21 |
Partial price histories: SNDK from 2025-02-13.
How this basket is built
Equal-weighted, monthly-rebalanced, buy-and-hold between rebalances; dated membership changes take effect same-day.
Tracked since 2026-07-21. Membership decisions are documented below.
Read the methodology →Reading the returns
Basket returns include dividends. “vs S&P 500” compares the basket’s compounded growth with the benchmark’s. Green means positive; red means negative.
Cross-checked against SMH. Daily return correlation: 0.75 across 1678 sessions. semiconductor proxy: MU is a top-10 holding but the fund is dominated by logic and foundry — a loose fit by design
Membership history & changes
- create
Split out of the combined Optics & Memory basket on its creation day, before it shipped a live series: memory/storage and optics are distinct supply cycles (DRAM/NAND pricing vs transceiver unit growth) and deserve separate monitors. Members and rationales carried over unchanged — MU, SNDK, WDC, STX, plus RMBS in the FW 3000. The Asia memory majors (Samsung, SK Hynix, Kioxia) and offshore-domiciled SIMO remain outside the US-listed universes. Reference stays SMH, with the same known dilution.