Investment Rating - The industry investment rating is maintained as "Positive" [4] Core Viewpoints - The storage market sentiment continues to rise, with domestic advanced storage capacity expanding, driven by the demand from AI servers and terminals, alongside opportunities for domestic substitution [2] - NAND storage price increase sentiment is heating up, with Flash wafer prices rising between 1.82% and 6.25%, and SSD prices, particularly for 256GB SSDs, seeing a weekly increase of 8.62% [7] - The DRAM market is expected to experience a comprehensive price increase, with Micron halting quotes for DDR4, DDR5, LPDDR4X, and LPDDR5X, and potential price hikes of 20%-30% anticipated [7] Summary by Sections Investment Recommendations and Targets - The report suggests a positive outlook for the storage industry, recommending stocks such as: - Zhaoyi Innovation (603986, Buy) - Beijing Junzheng (300223, Buy) - Other companies are listed with varying ratings [2] Market Trends - The NAND market is experiencing price increases due to supply-side strategies, with expectations for continued price rises in enterprise storage by Q4 [7] - The DRAM market is shifting towards a seller's market, with ongoing demand from AI applications supporting price increases [7] - Samsung's HBM3E product has been certified by NVIDIA, indicating competitive advancements in the HBM market [7]

Group 1 - The storage chip sector saw a rise of 2.43%, ranking 10th among concept sectors, with 90 stocks increasing in value, including Wanrun Technology and Demingli reaching their daily limit [2][3] - Notable gainers in the storage chip sector included Jucheng Co., which rose by 15.35%, Kaipu Cloud by 14.56%, and Shannon Chip by 13.07% [2][9] - The sector experienced a net inflow of 4.126 billion yuan, with 63 stocks receiving net inflows, and 18 stocks exceeding 100 million yuan in net inflows, led by Wanrun Technology with 595 million yuan [3][4] Group 2 - The top stocks by net inflow ratio included Wanrun Technology at 20.38%, Tongyou Technology at 14.62%, and Zhongdian Port at 12.53% [4][5] - The trading volume for Wanrun Technology was 22.42%, indicating significant market activity [4][5] - Other notable stocks with substantial net inflows included SMIC with 508 million yuan, Zhaoyi Innovation with 442 million yuan, and Lanke Technology with 328 million yuan [3][5] Group 3 - The storage chip sector's performance was contrasted by declines in other sectors, such as the Korean Free Trade Zone, which fell by 2.51%, and the soybean sector, which decreased by 1.50% [3] - Stocks with the largest declines included Baiao Chemical, which dropped by 4.79%, Zhongjing Electronics by 3.44%, and Yintang Zhikong by 3.05% [2][9] - The overall market sentiment reflected a mixed performance across various sectors, with significant gains in technology-related stocks [3][9]

Group 1 - The stock of Zhaoyi Innovation rose by 5.30% on September 22, closing at 195.01 yuan [1] - A block trade occurred with a total volume of 70,000 shares and a transaction amount of 11.67 million yuan, with a transaction price of 166.68 yuan per share, reflecting a premium rate of -14.53% [1] - The buyer was GF Securities Co., Ltd., and the seller was China International Capital Corporation [1] Group 2 - In the last three months, Zhaoyi Innovation has recorded five block trades with a total transaction amount of 35.37 million yuan [1] - Over the past five trading days, the stock has increased by 2.13%, while the net outflow of main funds totaled 661 million yuan [1]

Summary of Key Points Core Viewpoint - On September 22, 2023, a block trade of 70,000 shares of Zhaoyi Innovation was executed at a price of 166.68 CNY, representing a discount of 14.53% compared to the market closing price of 195.01 CNY, with a total transaction value of 11.67 million CNY, accounting for 0.15% of the total trading volume for that day [1]. Group 1: Trading Details - The block trade involved Zhaoyi Innovation (stock code: 603986) [2]. - The transaction was facilitated by Guangfa Securities, with the selling party being China International Capital Corporation [2]. - The total volume of shares traded was 70,000, with a transaction amount of 11.67 million CNY [1][2].

Market Overview - On September 22, the storage sector saw gains in memory, flash memory, and storage chips, with notable performances from companies like Demingli and Wanrun Technology, which hit the daily limit, and others like Kaipu Cloud and Juchen Co., which rose over 10% [1] Company Performance - Demingli (001309.SZ) achieved a price of 155.11 with a 10.00% increase, focusing on enterprise-level storage applications in servers and data centers, with a market cap of 24.783 billion [2] - Wanrun Technology reached a price of 15.82, up 10.01%, with a market cap of 13.372 billion, and is involved in semiconductor storage [2] - Juchen Co. (002654.SZ) saw a 14.57% increase, focusing on EEPROM technology and collaborating on DDR5 memory [2] - Kaipu Cloud (688123.SS) is planning to acquire a 70% stake in Nanning Taike, expanding its semiconductor storage product line [2] - Other companies like Xiangnan Zhichuang and Zhaoyi Innovation also reported gains, with Zhaoyi Innovation being ranked third globally in NOR Flash market [2] Industry Events - Morgan Stanley upgraded the memory industry rating from "neutral" to "attractive," predicting a super cycle driven by AI demand leading to supply shortages, particularly in traditional flash memory [3] - The report highlighted that NOR flash is expected to remain in low supply until 2026 due to competition for production capacity from higher-margin products [3] - DDR4 supply is projected to be insufficient by 10% to 15% from Q4 2025 to Q2 2026, with price increases expected due to urgent orders in the cloud server sector [4] Price Adjustments - Micron announced a price increase of 20%-30% for storage products, following SanDisk's 10% increase, with all DDR4 and DDR5 products halting quotes temporarily [4] - Samsung also informed clients of expected price hikes for DRAM and NAND products, with DRAM capacity projected to be only 20% of 2025 levels [4] Institutional Insights - The recent price adjustments by Micron and SanDisk are seen as a result of the AI-driven restructuring of the storage chip industry, leading to a widening supply gap for DDR4 [5] - Trendforce noted that HDD suppliers have not planned for capacity expansion, resulting in extended delivery times and an increasing shift towards SSDs due to narrowing price differences [5] - The NAND market has maintained low capacity utilization, with expectations for price increases driven by high demand for enterprise SSDs [5]

Group 1 - Semiconductor chips have seen a strong rally, driven by two major positive news: significant price increases in storage chips and the successful application of self-developed chips by companies like Huawei, Alibaba, and Baidu [1] - The price of DDR4/LPDDR4X storage chips has surged over 200% from the bottom in Q1 2025, with contract prices doubling and some models increasing by over 30%, indicating a tight supply-demand balance influenced by AI-driven demand and production cuts [1] - Alibaba has integrated its self-developed PPU chip into AI model training, partially replacing NVIDIA products, showcasing its potential in training scenarios, while other cloud companies are adapting domestic chips to enhance AI applications [1] Group 2 - As of September 22, 2025, the National Securities Semiconductor Chip Index (980017) rose by 4.46%, with significant gains in constituent stocks such as Haiguang Information (688041) up 13.02% and Longxin Zhongke (688047) up 8.04% [2] - The semiconductor ETF (159813) increased by 4.31%, reflecting the performance of listed companies in the semiconductor industry [2] - The top ten weighted stocks in the National Securities Semiconductor Chip Index account for 70.69% of the index, with companies like Cambricon (688256) and SMIC (688981) among the leaders [2]

Group 1 - The National Internet Information Office has released the "National Cybersecurity Incident Report Management Measures," effective from November 1, 2025, highlighting the urgency of developing a self-controlled information technology industry for national security [1] - Shenwan Hongyuan Securities emphasizes that the development of the information technology industry is crucial for ensuring national security, driven by factors such as "deepening policy support," "ongoing external disturbances," and "frequent security incidents" [1] Group 2 - Huawei Cloud has fully launched its CloudMatrix384 Ascend AI cloud service, with plans to upgrade the supernode specifications from 384 cards to 8192 cards, enabling ultra-large clusters of 500,000 to 1,000,000 cards [1] - During the Huawei Connect conference, Huawei's CEO of Cloud Computing shared innovations and practical applications in AI cloud services, large models, embodied intelligence, and AI agents [1] Group 3 - On September 13, Haiguang Information opened its CPU interconnect bus to full-stack industry partners, which is expected to address the current lack of uniformity in domestic computing chip technology and enhance the performance of chip computing power [2] - Guosen Securities notes that global AI computing power demand continues to grow, driven by increased capital expenditure from overseas companies, while domestic AI computing power demand is also rising due to the development of domestic large models and AI applications [2] Group 4 - As of September 22, 2025, the Guozheng Information Technology Innovation Theme Index rose by 3.04%, and the Xinchuang ETF Guangfa (159539) increased by 3.31%, with significant gains in component stocks such as Chip Origin Co., Ltd. rising by 18.96% [2] - The top ten weighted stocks account for 47.32% of the index, with notable increases in stocks like Zhongke Shuguang rising by 7.09% and Zhaoyi Innovation rising by 5.81% [2]

Group 1 - The semiconductor ETF Southern (159325) opened down 0.28% at 1.449 yuan [1] - Major holdings in the ETF include: - SMIC down 0.66% - Northern Huachuang down 0.11% - Haiguang Information down 1.68% - Cambrian down 1.57% - OmniVision up 0.69% - Lanke Technology down 0.34% - Zhaoyi Innovation up 1.99% - Zhongwei Company unchanged - Changdian Technology up 0.39% - Unisoc down 0.25% [1] - The ETF's performance benchmark is the CSI Semiconductor Industry Select Index return, managed by Southern Fund Management Co., Ltd. [1] Group 2 - Since its establishment on October 31, 2024, the ETF has returned 45.02% [1] - The ETF has achieved a return of 23.73% over the past month [1]

Price Trends in Storage Market - The first round of price increases in the storage market began in early April, initiated by SanDisk, with a second round of price hikes starting in September [1][2] - SanDisk announced a price increase of over 10% for all products, effective from September 5, with plans for regular price evaluations and potential further adjustments [2] - Micron also announced a price increase of 20%-30% for its storage products, halting quotes for all DDR4, DDR5, LPDDR4, and LPDDR5 products from September 12 [3] Market Dynamics - The demand from cloud service providers (CSPs) is driving the current price increases in the storage market [3] - The DDR4 and LPDDR4X markets have seen significant price increases due to supply-demand imbalances caused by major manufacturers reducing production [3] - The AI server and data center applications are pushing the demand for DDR5 and HBM, with predictions of a 65% year-on-year increase in HBM shipments by 2025 [4] Future Outlook - The enterprise SSD market is expected to see significant growth, with NAND flash and DRAM contract prices projected to rise by 15%-20% in Q4 2025 due to strong AI demand [7] - The shortage of traditional HDDs is leading cloud service providers to shift their data storage needs to high-capacity SSDs [7] - Companies like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent are significantly increasing their capital expenditures on AI and cloud infrastructure, indicating a robust demand for enterprise SSDs [8][9][10] Domestic Market Opportunities - The domestic storage industry is poised for growth, with companies that can secure stable, high-quality supply chains likely to benefit from the ongoing demand and price increases [12] - Companies like Gigadevice are targeting a one-third market share in the niche DRAM segment, with expectations of continued price increases [13] - Companies such as Changjiang Storage and JHICC are focusing on DDR5 and enterprise SSDs, with advancements in technology and local service positioning them favorably in the market [14][15][18]

Summary of Conference Call Notes Industry Overview - **Industry**: Greater China Semiconductor, specifically focusing on memory products such as NOR Flash, SLC NAND, and DDR4/DDR5 - **Key Theme**: The impact of AI growth on memory supply and pricing dynamics, particularly in legacy memory segments Key Points and Arguments Memory Pricing Dynamics 1. **NOR Flash Pricing**: Expected ongoing price hikes into 2026 due to supply constraints, with a projected low single-digit percentage undersupply in 1H26 [3][11] 2. **SLC NAND Demand**: Strong demand from cloud AI is leading to a reduction in legacy NAND capacity, potentially creating a double-digit percentage supply shortage [4][16] 3. **DDR4 Outlook**: Improved outlook for DDR4 with a projected 10-15% undersupply in 4Q25-2Q26, driven by a +9% increase in DDR5 pricing due to cloud server rush orders [5][11] Company-Specific Insights 1. **Winbond Electronics Corp**: Price target raised to NT$38 (30% upside) due to stabilized MCU business and pricing upside across DDR/NOR/NAND [6][45] 2. **Macronix International Co Ltd**: Double upgrade to Overweight as a major beneficiary of NOR price hikes, expected to turn profitable in 2026 [6][31] 3. **GigaDevice Semiconductor**: Price target raised due to better pricing outlook for DDR4 and NOR Flash [6] Financial Projections 1. **Macronix Earnings Estimates**: Revised EPS forecasts for 2026-27 show improvements driven by increased wafer ASP estimates for NOR and NAND, with expected NOR wafer ASP improvements of 6%, 30%, and 32% from 2025-27 [19] 2. **Winbond Earnings Estimates**: EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 raised by 21% and 12% respectively, reflecting positive outlook on specialty DRAM and NOR flash [42] Valuation Methodology 1. **Macronix Valuation**: Price target raised to NT$29 from NT$16.5, using a P/B multiple methodology reflecting expected net profit turnaround [24][28] 2. **Winbond Valuation**: Price target raised to NT$38 from NT$30, with a target multiple of 1.5x 2026e BVPS [45][47] Risks and Considerations 1. **Market Sentiment**: The market has reacted positively to price hikes, but there is uncertainty regarding sustainability into 2026 [17] 2. **Potential Risks**: Unexpected capacity increases or declines in demand could impact pricing and supply/demand dynamics [18] Additional Important Insights - **Investment Drivers**: The memory market is expected to see significant growth due to AI-driven demand, with NOR Flash revenue projected to grow by over 30% in 2025 and 60% in 2026 [33] - **Risk-Reward Analysis**: Macronix and Winbond are positioned favorably with strong pricing power and potential for profitability, but remain subject to market volatility and demand fluctuations [28][47] This summary encapsulates the key insights from the conference call, highlighting the dynamics of the semiconductor memory market and the specific outlook for key players in the industry.