AI Chip Concept Stocks Watchn丨SMIC (00981.HK) Rises Over 5%, Institutions Point Out Overall DRAM Landscape Remains Extremely Tight in Q3

NewTimeSpace (newtimespace.com) reported that on July 8, 2026, the chip theme strengthened, with SMIC (00981.HK) surging in volatile trading. As of 13:34, the stock was quoted at HKD 77.550, up 5.58%.

On the news front, according to a TrendForce report, the overall DRAM landscape in the third quarter remains extremely tight. However, due to downward revisions in consumer‑grade application demand and a high base effect, contract price increases are converging and are expected to rise by 13‑18% quarter‑on‑quarter. On July 7, Omdia released a report significantly raising its forecast for China's semiconductor market in 2026 to USD 812.08 billion, representing a year‑on‑year growth of 92.9%, with memory chips accounting for 55.4% of the total.

Guotai Haitong Securities pointed out that AI computing power is spreading from the cloud to the edge, opening up growth space for chip design. The deployment of generative AI and large models is driving demand for computing power. AI applications are extending from cloud training to inference, edge, and terminal scenarios, driving demand for AI accelerator chips, edge‑side SoCs, edge inference chips, memory interfaces, and high‑speed interconnects.

SMIC (00981.HK)Provides IC wafer foundry and related technical services. It is the largest pure-play wafer foundry in China by capacity and offers the broadest coverage of process nodes. Its mature and select advanced process lines address applications including smart terminals, IoT, and computing chips. Based on its periodic disclosures, wafer shipments, capacity utilization, and revenue are at historically high levels.

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