Analysis: Storage and Semiconductor Stock Pullback Amid Bitcoin Rebound Suggests Investor Focus May Be Shifting
BlockBeats News, July 3rd, 2026: In the first half of 2026, AI-related storage and semiconductor stocks dominated the market performance, but the recent momentum has begun to weaken. Bitcoin, on the other hand, rebounded from nearly a two-year low, drawing market attention to whether funds are flowing back into digital assets. Looking at ETF performance, the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) more than doubled in the first half of the year, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose by 60%, both closely tied to AI computing resource demand. In contrast, BlackRock's IBIT saw a 30% decline, following a trend similar to Bitcoin.
On the individual stock front, Sandisk has surged over 530% year-to-date. The company designs and manufactures NAND flash memory for AI servers, smartphones, and data centers. Micron Technology, as one of the world's major DRAM and HBM chip producers, has risen over 230% this year. However, recently these related stocks have experienced a pullback, with DRAM falling approximately 25% from its historical high on June 22nd and SMH dropping 12%. Meanwhile, after dropping below $58,000 on July 1st, Bitcoin has rebounded to above $61,000.
The AI-related sell-off pressure accelerated on Wednesday as Meta Platforms is establishing a business unit called Meta Compute to sell excess GPU computing power to third parties. This news has impacted companies benefiting from the AI computing surge, especially emerging cloud service providers renting GPU infrastructure to AI developers. Companies like IREN, Cipher Digital, and TerraWulf, which have shifted from Bitcoin mining to high-performance computing and GPU hosting services, have seen their stock prices drop by at least 20% from their historical highs. It is currently premature to determine if the fund rotation will continue, but the semiconductor leader's correction coinciding with Bitcoin's rebound may indicate that investors are starting to rebalance their risk exposure towards digital assets.
