The South Korean conglomerate has jointly developed with Nvidia an AI system that dramatically accelerates research and development of ultra-low-power NAND based on ferroelectric materials — a technology that will determine AI chip performance, the report added.

Nvidia and Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.

The strategy reflects both companies’ efforts to secure technological leadership in next-generation chip competition.

A joint research team from Samsung’s Semiconductor Research Institute, Nvidia, and Georgia Institute of Technology developed a “Physics-Informed Neural Operator (PINO),” model capable of analyzing ferroelectric NAND device performance more than 10,000 times faster than conventional methods. The research findings have been released globally, the report noted.

Ferroelectric materials are new substances that can maintain polarization — separation of positive and negative charges — without continuous electrical input. Research into using these materials for NAND memory devices has been active because of their ability to store information efficiently with minimal power consumption, with Samsung leading these efforts. Ferroelectric NAND refers to NAND made with ferroelectric materials instead of conventional silicon, according to the report.

Commercializing ferroelectric NAND needs follow-up research that analyzes and improves material performance characteristics like threshold voltage and data retention through computer simulation. Technology Computer-Aided Design, or TCAD, an analysis tool generally used in the semiconductor industry, usually requires 60 hours per operation, limiting research speed. Samsung and Nvidia’s research team succeeded in lowering operation time to under 10 seconds using AI trained on physical laws, the report added.

Based on the research results, Samsung will partner with Nvidia — its largest memory customer — on ferroelectric NAND development via commercialization, drawing attention to their future moves, the report noted.

Last year, Samsung announced ferroelectric NAND technology capable of reducing power consumption by 96% compared to conventional NAND in the journal Nature, indicating a major industry innovation.

South Korean companies Samsung and SK hynix are among the largest memory chipmaking companies in the world. SK hynix is a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, chips to Nvidia. Samsung and American company Micron Technology (MU) also compete with SK hynix in this space.

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Shares rose 1.4% in premarket trading.

“Pricing in CQ1 has seemingly moved well ahead of expectations set previously by Micron,” analyst Matt Bryson wrote in a note to clients, adding that Micron’s guidance for its fiscal second-quarter suggested a roughly 30% increase in the average selling price.

In January, contract pricing for dynamic random access memory and NAND seemed to reflect 50% or more gains in the first-quarter of calendar 2026, but it looks as if some contract pricing has seen triple-digit increases, Bryson added.

“And the setup for CQ2 seems more positive than our previous expectations that both NAND and DRAM would likely climb in the 30%–50% range (though Q2’s progression in part depends on where CQ1 concludes).”

Additionally, it seems as if there has been no fall-off in memory trends after the Chinese New Year, Bryson added. “Rather if anything we’ve seen evidence of a continued lift in requirements and even tighter supply dynamics.”

“Net, with both numbers moving higher and MU trading below what we view as typical peak earnings multiples, we see no reason to shift our positive view on the name (or more broadly the memory industry),” Bryson added.

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They intend to bolster the semiconductor innovation pipeline in the U.S. by utilizing Applied Materials’ EPIC Center in Silicon Valley and Micron’s innovation center in Boise, Idaho.

“Memory and storage are essential enablers of AI, and sustained innovation in these technologies is critical to unlocking AI’s full potential,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, Chairman, President and CEO of Micron Technology. “Micron has collaborated with Applied Materials for decades to deliver materials engineering innovations for new memory and storage devices, and we are pleased to extend this partnership to Applied’s new EPIC Center in Silicon Valley. Combined with Micron’s U.S.-based R&D and manufacturing hubs, this partnership creates a unique lab-to-fab pipeline to advance American memory innovation.”

The partnership also includes development on advanced packaging to enable high-bandwidth, low-power memory solutions for power-intensive AI workloads.

“Our EPIC Center engagement with Applied Materials goes beyond the next node—it’s about driving advances in disruptive tools, materials, and processes that enable future memory and storage architectures, technologies, and the extreme scaling needed to deliver higher performance and energy efficiency for our customers,” said Scott DeBoer, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Products Officer at Micron Technology.

Applied Materials new $5B EPIC Center constitutes the largest U.S. investment in advanced semiconductor equipment R&D, the companies said.

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“We now forecast DRAM contract prices to rise by 100% in 1Q26, followed by >30% QoQ in 2Q26 with further upside given current asking prices in 50-60% range,” analyst Jeff Pu wrote in a note to clients. “For Micron, we forecast FY2Q26 revenue to be $23B with [a] gross margin of 77%. Looking ahead, we expect 3Q26 revenue guidance to be $29B and a margin further [to] grow to 83%. In terms of HBM development, we see Micron [sic having] secured its HBM4 order (likely ~10Gbps version) with [a] small patch starting [in] March.”

Pu has a Buy rating on Micron and upped his price target to $571.

Delving deeper, Pu said he believes the cloud service providers are now trying to secure between four and six months worth of inventory, compared to two months. And smartphone makers are trying to get to roughly seven weeks of inventory, compared to four to five weeks in the fourth-quarter of 2025, but below the average of seven to nine weeks.

Pu also said that memory supply is likely to remain “short” next year, despite Micron’s Idaho fab ramping up and announcements from Sk hynix (HSXCL) and Samsung (SSNLF).

“Meanwhile, AI-related demand is expected to account for 75+% DRAM demand in 2027, and the short supply may last into 2H27,” Pu added. “As [a] result, [the] memory maker’s visibility has greatly improved, and we see 3-5 years [long-term agreements] are now being negotiated.”

A consensus of analysts expects Micron to earn $8.59 per share on $19.1B in revenue.

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Memory chip maker Micron is slated to report its second quarter results on March 18.

“We raise our Feb-Q/Apr-Q estimates above the Street driven by better YTD [year-to-date] memory prices. Citi global memory analyst Peter Lee expects DRAM ASPs [average selling prices] to increase 171% Y/Y in 2026 on strong data center demand and NAND ASPs +127% Y/Y on robust eSSD demand. Moreover, media reports (etnews, 4 March 2026) indicate Samsung increasing the DRAM prices 100% Q/Q in 1Q,” said analysts led by Atif Malik.

The analysts noted that the big investor debate on the stock is if we are in an extended memory cycle like the 1990s Windows PC DRAM cycle on strong AI demand along with limited new fab shell capacity.

Malik and his team said that they analyze Micron stock performance versus DRAM ASPs in the prior memory cycles and believe the stock could sustain gains this year. However, the analysts added that outperformance could moderate in the second quarter off a sharp more than 100% quarter-over-quarter DRAM price hike in the first quarter.

Separately, Susquehanna also raised Micron’s price target to $525 from $345 while keeping a Positive rating.

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“Our analysis of CQ1 contract prices of 50+ DRAM SKUs and 75+ NAND SKUs leads us to estimate overall DRAM ASPs can advance 90% Q/Q in CQ1, followed by a 6% Q/Q increase in CQ2 as increasing AI server demand is driving a wider supply-demand imbalance that’s exerting upward pricing pressure,” analyst Karl Ackerman wrote in a note to clients. “For NAND, we estimate CQ1 prices could increase 55% Q/Q, followed by 5% Q/Q increase in CQ2 predominantly driven by supply-side dynamics as NAND suppliers continue to shift capacity to enterprise storage products while remaining prudent on capacity additions.”

Ackerman has a $500 price target on Micron and a $650 price target on Sandisk.

Delving deeper, Ackerman pointed out that February spot pricing was strong, which, given the correlation between spot pricing and future contracts, bodes well for the industry as contract renewals come up.

“During upcycles, DRAM and NAND spot prices tend to be at a premium to contract prices,” Ackerman explained. “February pricing suggests consumer DDR4 spot prices surged 11% M/M (1284% Y/Y) to $21.93/GB compared to contract prices increasing 7% M/M (688% Y/Y) to $12.17/GB, representing a premium of 80%. Similarly, consumer DDR5 spot prices increased 9% M/M (673% Y/Y) to $19.13/GB compared to contract prices up 3% M/M (384% Y/Y) to $11.04/GB, representing a 73% premium.”

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The module uses what Micron says is the industry’s first monolithic 32Gb LPDDR5X design, delivering low-power memory capacity that can unlock new system architectures.

“Micron’s 256GB SOCAMM2 offering enables the most power-efficient CPU-attached memory solution for both AI and HPC. Today’s announcement highlights Micron’s technology and packaging advancements to deliver the highest-capacity, lowest-power modular memory solution with the smallest footprint in the industry,” said Raj Narasimhan, senior vice president and general manager of Micron’s Cloud Memory Business Unit.

The new module has one-third more capacity than the prior highest capacity 192GB SOCAMM2, 2TB of LPDRAM per 8-channel CPU for larger context windows and complex inference workloads.

It also uses one-third of the power compared with equivalent RDIMMs, while using only one-third of the footprint.

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“Memory vs. NVIDIA is an interesting debate,” analyst Joseph Moore wrote in a note to clients. “There is a commonly voiced view that memory stocks are pricing in a much longer and more durable cycle than processor stocks; we actually somewhat disagree with that. Our memory conversations with clients are very similar to NVIDIA conversations – a clear recognition that conditions are exceptional in both right now, But a very strong peak year at current valuations has been viewed as more investable for memory, because upward revisions are more dynamic. There is not much conviction about 2027 for either stock.”

Moore has an Overweight rating and $260 price target on Nvidia.

Delving deeper, Moore said any concerns about Nvidia losing market share are likely to be addressed at the upcoming GTC.

“We’re not sure exactly what to expect from GTC, but it should look very similar to 2024, when we got a full look into NVIDIA’s 4 year roadmap and it became clear that this race is not just about the silicon, but also rack and ecosystem development,” Moore explained. “We expect the Groq IP to play a role in this roadmap as well.”

Nvidia’s GTC is set to be held from March 16 to March 19, with Jensen Huang providing a keynote address on March 16.

Moore also explained that the ongoing supply constraints on AI processors could ease in the next few months, which could favorably impact Nvidia.

“To be clear, that is not currently in evidence, but it is more than possible given constraints on DRAM, eSSD, HDD, optical, microprocessors, and power that may all become bigger bottlenecks than the very steep ramp in processors – it might be a challenge for NVIDIA stock, since 90% of industry checks focus on easily accessible supply chain data points – CoWoS, lead times, etc – rather than demand,” Moore added. “But we have high conviction that it would lead to market share re- acceleration, similar to what we saw in CY24 when GPU lead times declined because of space and power constraints.”

And while there is some concern that Nvidia’s moat may have “eroded a little bit,” Moore is not concerned. The two biggest users of application specific integrated circuits and the two biggest potential AMD (AMD) customers are each likely to grow their Nvidia business by 80% or more in 2026, Moore added, citing recent checks.

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The ISO 9001:2015-certified site has begun commercial production and represents a combined investment of about $2.75B from Micron (MU) and its government partners.

The facility processes advanced DRAM and NAND wafers from Micron’s global manufacturing network into finished memory and storage products. Once fully ramped, the first phase will include more than 500,000 square feet of cleanroom space, making it one of the largest single-floor assembly and test cleanrooms in the world.

The plant will supply customers globally as demand for memory and storage continues to rise, driven by artificial intelligence. To commemorate the opening, Micron delivered its first shipment of India-made memory modules to Dell Technologies (DELL) for laptops manufactured in India for the domestic market.

Micron (MU) expects to assemble and test tens of millions of chips at the Sanand facility in 2026, with output projected to scale to hundreds of millions in 2027.

“Today is a proud moment for Micron and India’s growing semiconductor industry,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, chairman, president, and CEO of Micron Technology. “This pioneering facility, the first assembly and test site of its kind in the country, helps build a resilient ecosystem that underpins the global AI economy. We are deeply grateful to the government of India, the Gujarat government and all of the partners involved for their steadfast support in making this achievement possible.”

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