## Memory Group Surge Focus of Taiwan Stocks: Winbond Electronics Leads NAND Flash Manufacturer Rankings, Fundamental Changes Behind Limit-Up

The supply side of the memory market is undergoing a fundamental shift. International giants are shifting capacity from traditional DRAM and Flash to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to capture the market, leading to a significant global memory supply shortage. Amid this structural shortage, Winbond Electronics, a leading Taiwanese manufacturer in the global NAND Flash ranking, becomes the most direct beneficiary.

### AI demand triggers supply tightness, DDR4 spot prices experience historic-level increases

Over the past year, DRAM market inventory levels have rapidly decreased from 13 to 17 weeks at the beginning of the year to 2 to 4 weeks in October, reaching unprecedented lows. More notably, the supply and demand for DDR4 specifications have reversed—mainstream manufacturers prioritize capacity allocation for the new generation DDR5 and HBM products, causing DDR4 supply to shrink sharply, while enterprise storage demand for DDR4 remains strong.

This mismatch has resulted in astonishing price increases: DDR4 contract prices rose from about NT$1 per chip at the start of the year to 5-6 times higher in the fourth quarter. The market even saw a rare "price inversion"—DDR4 spot prices temporarily surpassed DDR5, indicating severe pressure on supply.

### Winbond Electronics reports record high revenue in three years, institutional investors turn optimistic

Winbond Electronics' consolidated revenue in November reached NT$8.629 billion, up 5% month-on-month and 38.7% year-on-year, hitting a three-year high. The cumulative revenue for the first 11 months was NT$79.635 billion, up 5.85% year-on-year, with revenue momentum clearly accelerating.

Foreign institutional investors have recently issued optimistic reports, believing that the memory price rally could continue until 2026, with particular emphasis on the supply shortage of 16Gb DDR4—spot prices have surged to about US$100 per chip, far above the industry reference price of US$45.5. Looking ahead to 2026, DRAM contract prices are expected to continue rising, with DDR5 and DDR4 estimated at NT$17 and NT$12 per chip respectively, implying this cycle will last at least until next year.

### Stock prices rise for three consecutive days, technical and chip sentiment both strengthen

Winbond Electronics hit the limit-up today, closing at NT$67.9, up 9.87%, with both trading volume and value leading the Taiwan stock market. This is the third consecutive trading day of gains, with a total increase of 20.37%, driving the entire memory sector, including Macronix and Powertech, higher.

On the technical side, the stock price today touched the upper Bollinger Band, firmly above the short-term moving averages, forming a clear bullish arrangement. Capital flow is also active, with the three major institutional investors increasing their holdings simultaneously last week, with a net purchase of over 50,000 lots, including foreign investors' net buy of more than 42,000 lots.

### Dual-axis capacity expansion underway, seizing structural shortage opportunities

To seize market opportunities, Winbond Electronics is pushing forward with dual-axis capacity expansion: the Taichung plant continues to ramp up production of NOR Flash, NAND Flash, and mature process DRAM; the Kaohsiung new plant's monthly DRAM capacity will be significantly increased from the current 15,000 wafers to 24,000-25,000 wafers, with plans to start mass production of 16nm advanced process in the first quarter of 2026, and from 2027, CUBE wafer-level stacking technology will contribute to revenue.

Market forecasts indicate that the global DDR4 supply-demand gap will expand to over 10% by 2026. Driven by diverse applications such as artificial intelligence, industrial computers, and automotive electronics, Winbond Electronics is expected to enter the most profitable phase during the memory industry’s upward cycle. Taiwan memory manufacturers' inventory turnover days have decreased from 185 to 140 days, with significant improvements in revenue and profitability. The overall performance of the sector will closely follow memory prices and actual end-market demand changes.