House Representative John Moolenaar has expressed concerns to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick regarding potential shortages of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), specifically high-bandwidth memory (HBM). This comes shortly after NVIDIA Corporation received export approval for its H200 AI processors to China.
"Due to severe supply constraints, chips equipped with HBM3E bound for China represent an opportunity cost when it comes to HBM3E that could otherwise be utilized by American customers," Moolenaar stated in his communication on Thursday, January 15.
HBM is a critical component of the H200 processor, manufactured by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. These companies have reportedly warned of supply constraints in recent months.
While NVIDIA has stated it can fulfill all approved H200 orders without impacting other products or customers, the export approval conditions may require proof of "sufficient" U.S. supply.
Moolenaar has requested Secretary Lutnick to provide a briefing on the situation by January 25, including how memory chip availability might impact license approvals.
On Friday, January 16, analysts at Jefferies maintained their positive outlook on NVIDIA, increasing their price target from $250 to $275. They noted the stock trades at a mid-teen multiple to 2027 estimates and described it as "remains pretty cheap."