“A shortage of memory is creating a boom in the overall semiconductor market,” said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. “Memory vendors have been able to increase their price for DRAM and NAND, driving revenue and margins higher.”
Still, investors could be paying up for future catalysts for semiconductor and broader technology names. If there is a silver lining for the rising valuations on chip stocks it is that some industry observers believe the group’s valuations should not be measured in the traditional sense because of the evolution of the semiconductor business.
“The booming memory market, with revenue forecast to increase 52 percent in 2017, is expected to shake up semiconductor market share rankings. “As the largest memory supplier, Samsung Electronics is set to gain the most,” said Mr. Norwood. “This gives Samsung its best shot at capturing the No. 1 position from Intel for the first time.”
Samsung is not a major holding in SMH or SOXX, but it is the largest holding in the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSEARCA:EWY).
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