The stock prices of RAM and NAND manufacturers surged yesterday, with Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) up 10%, Sandisk Corporation (Nasdaq: SNDK) up 27%, Western Digital Corporation (Nasdaq: WDC) up 16%, and Seagate Technology Holdings (Nasdaq: STX) up 14%.

The driving factor behind this recent stock surge is a shortage of RAM, or random-access memory. The shortage expected to last throughout 2026, and it could mean that you’ll pay much more for personal computers and smartphones this year.

Here’s what you need to know about the RAM shortage of 2026.

The RAM shortage in 2026 can essentially be blamed on one thing: artificial intelligence. Major tech giants like Google and Amazon, as well as other so-called hyperscalers, are rushing to build as many AI data centers as possible.

These data centers are packed with servers, and those servers run all the powerful AI services that are quickly becoming ubiquitous.

Data center servers are made of various components—storage, CPUs, GPUs, and, critically, RAM—that are needed for them to be able to carry out their AI tasks. 

RAM is the short-term storage that digital devices use to quickly perform tasks. RAM, also........

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