On Monday morning, trading in shares of Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia was temporarily halted due to a surge of investor activity. This follows the company's announcement of a significant profit increase and guidance that far exceeded market expectations.
The Tokyo-based company stated last Friday that it expects operating profit for the June quarter to reach 1.3 trillion yen (approximately $82 billion), surpassing its full-year profit record for the period ending in March. Data also revealed that Kioxia's quarterly profit through March reached a record 596.9 billion yen, even exceeding that of Toyota Motor Corporation, making it one of Japan's most profitable companies.
Kioxia also announced last Friday its plan to list American Depositary Shares (ADS) representing its common stock on a U.S. stock exchange. The move aims to broaden its investor base and enhance the company's global valuation and international influence.
Year-to-date, Kioxia's stock price has surged by approximately 300%. Investors view the company, alongside high-bandwidth memory (HBM) manufacturers, as a primary beneficiary of the global boom in artificial intelligence data center construction. The NAND memory produced by Kioxia is used to support AI accelerators, such as those manufactured by Nvidia.
Kioxia's stock performance has outpaced that of other major memory chip manufacturers. The company, formerly Toshiba's chip business unit, has long specialized in the NAND memory field. Kioxia anticipates continued strong demand for its products. It is currently negotiating long-term supply agreements with several major AI data center clients to secure product supply orders for 2027-2028.
Kioxia disclosed that NAND memory prices more than doubled in the March fiscal quarter. Due to supply constraints, prices are expected to continue their upward trend for the remainder of the year.
For a long period, Kioxia struggled to compete with larger rivals like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, and its investment buffer was relatively weaker during industry downturns. However, recent shifts by these Korean chip giants to allocate more resources to HBM—a core component of high-end AI processors—have allowed Kioxia to capture a larger share of orders in the NAND memory market.
Takeru Hanaya, an analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities, commented, "This is the peak season for the NAND memory industry, with no immediate concerns about a loosening of supply and demand dynamics."
Kioxia's Chief Financial Officer, Yoshihiko Kawamura, added that the company plans to announce specific measures to enhance shareholder returns next month and is considering a dividend distribution.