What exactly the AI-Memory Smart Portfolio contains
eToro introduced the portfolio in mid-July 2026. It contains twenty companies and has a global reach, with firms from the US, Europe and Asia.
The key word is chain. The portfolio does not only bet on chip manufacturers themselves, but also on data storage and NAND memory specialists, including companies supplying enterprise SSDs to artificial intelligence data centres.
eToro has disclosed only part of the composition. Of the twenty holdings, the public currently knows eight.
| Company | Ticker | Role in the chain |
|---|---|---|
| Micron Technology | MU | DRAM and HBM memory production |
| SanDisk | SNDK | NAND memory and data storage |
| SK hynix (ADR) | SKHY | DRAM and HBM memory production |
| Kioxia Holdings | 285A.T | Japanese NAND memory manufacturer |
| Marvell Technology | MRVL | Interconnect chips for data centres |
| Applied Materials | AMAT | Manufacturing equipment for chip factories |
| Western Digital | WDC | Data storage |
| TSMC (ADR) | TSM | Contract chip manufacturing |
It is interesting that the list also includes companies that do not manufacture memory chips themselves. Applied Materials supplies manufacturing equipment to factories, while TSMC is a contract chip manufacturer. The portfolio therefore also reaches one level lower, towards the suppliers of suppliers.
eToro has not named the remaining twelve holdings and has not disclosed the weightings of individual companies either. We therefore cannot assess how the portfolio is actually distributed. That is fairly important when evaluating risk.
Why memory chips? Because they are the bottleneck
The answer is simple. Memory chips are in short supply right now and nobody can produce them quickly enough.
Artificial intelligence data centres are currently estimated to consume 70% of all memory chips produced. The DRAM market is dominated by Samsung, SK hynix and Micron, which together account for more than 95% of global production.
These companies have redirected factory capacity towards HBM memory for server computing chips. That leaves significantly less room for ordinary DRAM and NAND.
You can see the result in prices.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Data centres’ share of memory chip consumption | around 70% |
| Samsung, SK hynix and Micron’s share of global DRAM production | more than 95% |
| Increase in contract prices for standard DRAM in Q1 2026 | 90 to 95% versus the previous quarter |
| Expected increase in DRAM prices in Q2 2026 | 58 to 63% |
| Growth in DRAM shipments in 2026 | 16% (the usual standard was 20 to 30%) |
| Growth in NAND shipments in 2026 | 17% |
| Lead times for DRAM | more than 40 weeks |
| Price of a 1 TB consumer SSD | from around USD 45 to USD 90 since the end of 2025 |
The figures in the table are based on publicly available data and analysts’ estimates as of mid-July 2026. Some of them are forecasts, not confirmed numbers, and actual developments may differ. Individual sources also commonly differ on specific values, and memory price data changes literally every week.
Those numbers are not a typo. In a year and a half, memory chips have become one of the most expensive commodities in the technology world.
HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) is high-throughput memory that is stacked in layers directly next to the computing chip and is used in artificial intelligence servers. The catch is that producing HBM consumes roughly three times as much capacity as standard DDR5 memory. Every silicon wafer used for HBM therefore takes away capacity equivalent to three wafers of ordinary memory. That is where the shortage of memory for computers and phones comes from.
To show how large this appetite is: a single NVIDIA B300 computing chip needs eight HBM memory units, and each of them contains twelve layers of memory chips.
Supply cannot keep up. DRAM shipments are expected to grow by only 16% this year, and NAND by 17%, whereas 20 to 30% was common in previous years.
Samsung and SK hynix both warn that the shortage may last into 2027 and possibly longer. Micron’s management is talking about a tight market even beyond 2027.
A brief digression. The shortage has long since spilled over into ordinary shops, and laptop and phone manufacturers are openly discussing price increases for end devices because they can no longer absorb higher memory prices in their margins. Anyone who has built a computer this year knows exactly what that means. But back to the topic.
How Smart Portfolios work at eToro
Smart Portfolios are ready-made investment baskets. You choose a theme, invest money, and eToro’s team of analysts takes care of selecting the holdings and rebalancing them regularly.
There are more than 65 in the range, covering various themes from artificial intelligence to commodities or the defence industry.
There is no management fee. That does not mean the whole product is free.
At eToro, you can hold your account in dollars, euros or pounds. If you fund a dollar account from a sterling bank account, you will pay for currency conversion.
Withdrawing money costs USD 5 from a dollar account, while it is free from a euro account. The inactivity fee of USD 10 per month only applies after a year without a single trade. You will find the full breakdown of fees, spreads and conditions in our eToro review.
The minimum investment in thematic Smart Portfolios is USD 500. For portfolios that copy leading traders on the platform, it is USD 1,000.
That five hundred dollar threshold has another dimension. It is also the level from which new clients in the UK can receive a free share for registering. With a first deposit of USD 500 to USD 999, this is a share worth USD 40, and the choices include ASML, a company that fits the chip story rather precisely.
eToro has not stated how often AI-Memory will be rebalanced or what weightings individual holdings have. Older thematic portfolios are usually rebalanced once a year.
The portfolio has no return history to rely on. It was created only a few days ago.
Be careful with the name, it has nothing to do with AI memory
A clarification is needed here because the name can easily cause confusion. AI-Memory sounds like something related to artificial intelligence memory, meaning a model’s ability to remember previous conversations.
The two are not even remotely related. The word memory here means memory chips, in other words hardware.
The confusion is even greater because eToro also offers real memory for artificial intelligence. Its assistant Tori received persistent memory across sessions in spring 2026 and remembers the user’s portfolio as well as previous questions.
Two completely different things with almost the same name. While preparing this text, I had to check it twice myself to avoid mixing them up.
Retail investors have been moving into memory for some time
The portfolio launch did not appear out of nowhere. eToro’s own data for the second quarter of 2026 shows that its clients had already moved into memory stocks on their own.
SanDisk recorded the largest increase in the number of holders of any stock on the platform, rising by 151%. Marvell added 84% and Western Digital 49%.
More interesting, however, is what did not change. Apple remains the most widely held stock on eToro, and the ranking of the most held holdings did not move over the whole quarter.
Retail investors are therefore not abandoning the major technology companies. They are simply adding their suppliers.
eToro’s market strategist describes this as a more mature phase of the artificial intelligence trade. According to him, investors are no longer buying only the most obvious winners and are looking for places where constrained supply and the ability to push through higher prices create another layer of companies that benefit. It is fair to say that the portfolio launch is a response to demand that already existed on the platform.
Risks you will not find in the marketing
Now for the less pleasant part.
The memory market is cyclical, very cyclical. Historically, periods of shortage and high margins have alternated with periods of oversupply and falling prices. Today’s shortage stems from manufacturers redirecting capacity elsewhere, not from a permanent inability to produce more.
Once new capacity comes online, which in this industry happens with a delay of several years, the situation may reverse. Nobody knows exactly when.
The second problem is that a large part of the story is already reflected in prices. Micron gained roughly 300% in the first half of 2026. SanDisk is up somewhere between 600 and 900% this year, depending on the calculation.
Anyone buying today is not buying cheap shares after a fall. They are buying an industry after one of the strongest rallies the market has seen in recent years.
The portfolio is concentrated in one industry. If the memory cycle turns, all holdings are likely to fall at once. Diversification across twenty companies in this case does not protect as much as it may seem.
The valuation situation is unusual. At the end of June, Micron traded at a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of around 9, which looks cheap on paper.
But those numbers jump around. Earnings estimates for memory companies are recalculated so quickly that different sources report significantly different values for the same company within just a few weeks. I have to admit that this was the hardest point to verify when preparing the article.
A low P/E at a cyclical company near the top of the cycle is usually more of a warning than an opportunity. Earnings are high and may fall faster than the share price can decline.
And one more thing that people underestimate. Whether you keep your account in dollars or euros, the shares in the portfolio are overwhelmingly dollar-denominated. If sterling strengthens against the dollar, it will reduce your return regardless of how the companies perform.
For illustration: you deposit USD 500 at an exchange rate of GBP 0.78 per dollar, or GBP 390. The portfolio earns 10% over a year and you have USD 550. But if the exchange rate meanwhile falls to GBP 0.70 per dollar, you get back GBP 385. The portfolio made money, but you broke even.
Advantages and disadvantages of the AI-Memory Smart Portfolio
Advantages
- A ready-made bet on the whole memory chain without the need to pick individual shares
- No portfolio management fee
- Global reach, with companies from the US, Europe and Asia
- Also targets suppliers of manufacturing equipment, not just memory producers
- eToro handles the rebalancing, so you do not have to do anything
Disadvantages
- Concentration in one highly cyclical industry
- The USD 500 entry minimum is a lot for smaller investors
- Only 8 of the 20 holdings have been disclosed and without weightings
- Much of the growth has already happened, so you are entering after strong gains
- Currency risk because the underlying exposure is in dollars
- The portfolio is new and has no performance history
Who it makes sense for, and who it does not
In our view, this is a product for someone who believes in the artificial intelligence story, does not want to pick individual shares, and sees it as an addition to the core of a portfolio. Not as the core itself.
If you are looking for a broad foundation for long-term investing, this really is not it. Broadly diversified ETFs are more suitable for that.
And if you are attracted by the idea that memory stocks will rise forever, we recommend looking at a chart of DRAM prices over the last twenty years. That saw-tooth pattern is quite a warning.
A sensible approach is to spread your entry over time. In an industry that has risen by hundreds of percent in half a year, investing the full amount in one go is bolder than it may look at first glance.
But context matters here. Some people have a ten-year horizon and do not mind volatility. Others will check their account every day and sell at the first 30% drop.
Before putting money into this theme, calculate what percentage of your total portfolio this one bet would represent. If it comes out above 5 to 10%, we recommend reducing the amount.
Frequently asked questions
How much do I need to invest in the AI-Memory Smart Portfolio?
The minimum investment in thematic Smart Portfolios at eToro is USD 500. You cannot start with a lower amount, even though individual shares on the platform can be bought from USD 10.
Is there a management fee for a Smart Portfolio?
No, eToro does not charge anything for management. However, you should expect a currency conversion fee when funding a dollar account from a sterling bank account, and a USD 5 fee when withdrawing money from a dollar account.
Which companies does AI-Memory contain?
The portfolio holds twenty companies, but eToro has disclosed only eight of them: Micron, SanDisk, SK hynix, Kioxia, Marvell, Applied Materials, Western Digital and TSMC. The rest is not public yet.
How long can the memory shortage last?
The largest manufacturers are talking about 2027 and admit that it may last longer. Nobody knows exactly, however, because it depends on how quickly new production capacity comes online and whether demand for data centres keeps up its pace.
Is AI-Memory related to Tori assistant memory?
No. AI-Memory is a portfolio of shares in memory chip manufacturers, while Tori is eToro’s assistant, which has remembered a user’s previous conversations since spring 2026. The similarity is only in the name.
Can I invest in the portfolio in pounds?
At eToro, you keep your account in dollars, euros or pounds. If you invest through a dollar account, your pounds are converted and you will pay for the conversion. Your return is also affected by movements in the pound against the dollar because the shares in the portfolio are dollar-denominated, and this is not something to underestimate when holding for the long term.
Will I receive any bonus for registering with eToro?
New clients in the UK can receive a free share worth USD 40 to USD 500, with the amount depending on the size of the first deposit. The condition is registration through a special link and leaving the first deposit in the account for 90 days. You can invest with it throughout that period, but you must not withdraw it.
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