The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) surged 7.50% in pre-market trading on Tuesday, reflecting a significant rally in memory and semiconductor stocks.

The move was driven by renewed optimism about memory-chip demand fueled by the artificial intelligence boom. Analysts point to the release of competitive Chinese AI models like Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, which, despite initial concerns, is seen as potentially increasing total AI workloads and the consequent need for high-performance memory. The Kimi K3 model, with 2.8 trillion parameters, requires approximately 1.4TB of memory space, highlighting the growing memory infrastructure demands of advanced AI systems. This aligns with the economic concept of the "Jevons Paradox," where technological efficiency improvements ultimately lead to increased total resource consumption.

Further catalysts include warnings of continued supply tightness and bullish price forecasts for memory chips. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won warned that current memory chip prices are in an abnormal state, projecting overall memory demand to surge nearly 60% next year with supply shortages persisting. Investment bank KeyBanc forecast Q3 DRAM prices to rise 15%-20% quarter-over-quarter, with NAND flash surging 30%-40%, while TrendForce projected Q3 DRAM contract prices to climb 13% sequentially. Additionally, foreign capital flowed into key memory chip stocks in Asian markets, and the broader semiconductor sector staged a recovery during the session, collectively lifting the ETF.