Apple and Tech Hardware Stocks Face ‘Crisis’ as Memory Prices Soar

Apple shares rose just 8.6% in 2025, their worst performance since 2022.Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg

Soaring prices for memory and storage components have turned companies like Sandisk Corp., Micron Technology Inc. and Western Digital Corp. into the hottest stocks in the market over the past year. But they’re causing headaches for many of their customers.

Hardware companies from Apple Inc. to HP Inc. are under pressure, as their need for expensive memory components becomes an investing risk — one that isn’t expected to reverse anytime soon.