The memory chip trade has gone from Wall Street darling to portfolio nightmare, and the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) is right in the middle of it.

The ETF plunged 18% on Thursday, extending its one-month decline to roughly 40%. For a fund that rode the artificial intelligence-driven memory boom to extraordinary gains earlier this year, the reversal is about as steep as it gets.

From a 191% Rally to $7 Billion in Investor Losses

Morningstar's Jeffrey Ptak noted on X that DRAM's 54.2% drawdown began on June 22, following a spectacular 191% rally from its February inception to that peak.

According to Ptak, shareholders had collectively lost approximately $4.1 billion before Thursday's collapse. He estimated that the latest selloff could push aggregate investor losses beyond $7 billion, against cumulative net inflows of $21.7 billion entering the session.

These figures represent estimated investor losses based on money flows and returns, rather than simply the decline in the ETF's market value. In other words, this is real money that went in and didn't come back out.

"DRAM lost ~18% today. It's in midst of 54.2% drawdown that began on 6/22/26 (on heels of 191% gain from Feb incept to that date). Entering today, shareholders had lost ~$4.1B in aggregate. Today's loss prob bring it to $7B+ in losses on cumul net flows of $21.7B entering today."

— Jeffrey Ptak (@syouth1), November 5, 2026

What's Crushing the Memory Chip Trade?

DRAM's troubles reflect a broader reversal in memory stocks as investors question whether the AI infrastructure boom can sustain the industry's lofty expectations.

Thursday's selloff was particularly punishing. Micron Technology (MU) tumbled roughly 17.5%, while Sandisk Corp (SNDK) plunged more than 20%. South Korean memory giant SK Hynix (SKHY) also came under heavy selling pressure.

Several developments have intensified the pressure.

Qualcomm Inc's (QCOM) latest results showed a 26% drop in handset revenue, raising concerns about smartphone-related memory demand. Meanwhile, Kioxia's cautious quarterly outlook has fueled uncertainty over the memory pricing cycle, despite continued AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory.

Competition is another concern. China's ChangXin Memory Technologies has reportedly made advances in denser memory chip designs, potentially challenging established manufacturers over time.

The broader AI trade has also been shaken by concerns over enormous data-center spending, uncertain investment returns and the prospect of tighter regulations following the Democratic Party's midterm election gains.

Why DRAM Is Especially Vulnerable

Unlike diversified semiconductor ETFs, DRAM concentrates its exposure on memory and storage companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron.

That concentration helped deliver outsized gains during the memory boom. Now, it leaves investors especially exposed when the entire industry sells off at once. It's the classic concentrated-fund story: great on the way up, brutal on the way down.

Nonetheless, DRAM was showing signs of a potential comeback on Friday, climbing 7.3% in premarket trading as investors reassessed the battered semiconductor trade. That offers some relief, but it remains unclear whether the move signals renewed buying interest or merely a temporary bounce following aggressive selling.