Kioxia shares surge in buy orders after record profit forecast blows past estimates
Kioxia Holdings, Japan’s largest NAND flash memory producer, saw its shares flooded with buy orders after the company posted a profit forecast that didn’t just beat expectations. It more than doubled them.
The company projected a net profit of ¥869 billion (roughly $5.8 billion) for the April to June 2026 quarter, a figure that makes the market consensus estimate of ¥405.6 billion look almost quaint. Revenues are expected to hit ¥1.75 trillion, with operating profit at ¥1.298 trillion. The catalyst behind these numbers is one word that has become the most reliable growth engine in the semiconductor world: AI.
A 48x profit jump tells the story
The projected net profit of ¥869 billion for the April to June 2026 quarter represents a 48x increase year over year.
The company’s fiscal 2025 results were already record-setting, with revenues of ¥2.3376 trillion and operating profits in the ¥870 to ¥876 billion range.
Analyst predictions suggest Kioxia’s operating profit could approach ¥4 trillion in fiscal year 2026. To put that in context, that would potentially exceed Toyota Motor’s estimated profit of roughly ¥3 trillion.
Kioxia has pointed to the rapid pace of NAND memory price increases as a key factor driving its outlook.
AI demand is rewriting the playbook
The driving force behind Kioxia’s extraordinary outlook is the massive wave of AI data center investment coming from major US tech firms. Companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta have collectively committed hundreds of billions to AI infrastructure buildouts. Every new data center needs storage, and lots of it.
Eyes on a US listing
Kioxia is preparing to list American depositary shares on a US exchange, a move designed to broaden its investor base and tap into American capital markets. The details of the ADS listing haven’t been finalized yet.
Kioxia went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2024 after years of private ownership following the Bain Capital-led buyout from Toshiba.
