New developments between the US and Iran drive South Korea and Japan's storage stocks higher. Can China's leading storage companies resonate together?

Ask AI · How will the Iran-U.S. negotiation breakthrough affect the global storage chip market?

Citing reports from foreign media on April 6, Chinese news outlet China News Service said that on April 5, U.S. President Trump, in an interview, stated that the United States is conducting “in-depth talks” with Iran and that it is “very likely” that it will reach an agreement with it before the final deadline on the 7th. On Monday, the Korean and Japanese stock markets opened with volatile gains, reflecting investors’ cautiously optimistic expectations that geopolitical risks will ease.

Korean and Japanese stock storage shares lead the rally

On the morning of April 6, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened at around 5,420—5,450 points. Compared with the close of 5,377.30 points on the previous trading day (April 3), it rose by about 0.8%—1.5%. The gains then expanded to more than 1.8%—2.0%, reaching a peak around 5,480 points during the day, and overall it maintained a volatile pattern after a high open. In the afternoon of April 6, it once climbed more than 2% intraday, with a high around the 5,505-point area.

Samsung Electronics, the single largest stock by weight in the KOSPI, surged quickly after the market opened, with its gain temporarily reaching 3%—4%. Its share price held at a relatively high level, and during the day it contributed the main impetus to the index’s rise. SK Hynix was also strong, with an early-morning gain of 2%—3%. The robust performance of these two heavyweight stocks not only boosted the KOSPI index but also lifted activity across the entire electronics technology sector.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 opened at around 53,165 points. It was slightly higher than the previous trading day’s (April 3) close of 53,123.49 points. The advance then widened to about 0.7%—0.9%. During the day, it hit a high in the 53,500—53,600 range, and in the afternoon it held around 53,700—54,001 points, with a gain of about 1.1%—1.65%. Overall, it displayed the characteristics of a higher open followed by a modest, steady upswing.

Among Japanese stocks, Kioxia Holdings, a major NAND flash manufacturer, rose about 1.9% in the morning, and its gain in the afternoon once expanded to 4.2%, standing out within the electronics technology sector. The company had previously shown volatility due to the impact of the Middle East conflict, and this negotiation progress signal may ease concerns about energy and logistics disruptions.

NH Investment & Securities and other local Korean brokerage firms said that today’s KOSPI was able to rebound quickly above 5,400 points, showing the market’s positive reaction to a “decline in short-term geopolitical risk premium.” However, institutions generally warned that this round of gains is more of an “event-driven sentiment repair” rather than a trend reversal. Details of the negotiations still remain uncertain; if Iran’s response is more hardline or an agreement is delayed, an oil price rebound could once again weigh on the index.

Looking back at the U.S.-Iran conflict, since the end of February 2026, shipping security in the Strait of Hormuz was at one point threatened. Global energy supply chains faced pressure, oil prices spiked in the short term, and stock markets saw sharp bouts of volatility multiple times. From March to early April, concerns about further escalation led to multiple pullbacks in the Korea and Japan stock markets. Japan, as a major energy importer, and South Korea, as a semiconductor export-dependent economy, were both clearly affected.

Can China’s A-share storage leaders move in sync?

Based on recent market data, the rise in the shares of South Korea’s storage giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, along with A-share storage sector leaders such as Zhaoyi Innovation (603986.SH), Jiangbo Long (301308.SZ), and B&V Storage (688525.SH), among others, typically forms both sentiment transmission and a fundamentals “convergence” effect.

Since early April, A-share storage stocks have entered a high-level consolidation and adjustment period after the March peak. The index has edged down slightly, while stock-level differentiation has increased. The CSI Storage Chip Industry Index (980138) closed at 1,871.83 points on April 3, down 0.66% on the day.

At the individual-stock level, Zhaoyi Innovation surged as much as 7.10% on April 1, but fell 3.14% on April 2, and then rebounded slightly by 0.85% to 249.10 yuan on April 3. B&V Storage was supported by lingering heat from performance that had exceeded expectations from late March into early April, but saw a pullback at the beginning of April and overall retreated from prior highs. Stocks such as Jiangbo Long, in storage modules, have followed a similar pattern: after a strong showing in March, their prices moved into a consolidation phase.

This pullback in storage shares also has another “interlude.” On March 24, a paper from the Google Research Institute proposed a new AI memory compression algorithm, which could compress the key-value cache (KV cache) used in large language model (LLM) inference to 1/6 of the original size. The market quickly interpreted this as “a significant reduction in AI memory demand,” triggering panic selling across global storage chip stocks. But afterward, institutions clarified that the Turbo Quant technology mentioned in the paper mainly affects KV cache in the inference stage, and has limited impact on core demand for training HBM and NAND flash. In the long run, it is actually beneficial for overall storage demand.

Since then, multiple brokerage research reports have pointed out that the storage industry is currently in the early-to-mid portion of a super favorable cycle. Product supply and demand imbalance—where supply cannot meet demand—will continue at least until 2027. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Kioxia’s guidance for enterprise performance exceeded expectations, and with an increase in NAND contract prices, this directly validates the high-cycle environment. In turn, A-share storage module leaders will directly benefit from global cycle transmission, leading to a surge in short-term performance.

From a short-term perspective, if the U.S.-Iran deal is reached or shows positive progress, it will help the market’s risk appetite improve; conversely, if not, the storage sector, as a high-beta segment, may face renewed pressure.

(Author: Du Yuan)