An insatiable appetite for data storage by artificial intelligence (AI) has delivered Japanese memorychip maker Kioxia Holdings Corp world-beating stock gains this year, a sign that the AI boom is alive and well despite market jitters.
Kioxia’s shares have risen about 540 percent this year, outperforming all other members of the MSCI World Index and making it the top stock in Japan’s TOPIX.
The NAND flash memory maker, which only debuted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December last year, counts Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp among its clients, and is now worth about ￥5.7 trillion (US$36.6 billion).
Photo: Bloomberg
Kioxia’s stratospheric climb illustrates the technology industry’s booming demand for memory as hyperscalers rush to build out AI infrastructure. Chips such as Kioxia’s are essential for AI training and data centers. This year, major technology firms warned of a memory supply crunch amid soaring demand, with analysts forecasting a jump in prices.
The memory rush has been a boon for Kioxia shares, as investors anticipate solid demand and rising prices would boost its revenue.
“In tech, we go into 2026 mainly geared to memory, whether that’s direct exposure to Kioxia or second derivative plays,” Asymmetric Advisors Pte Japan equity strategist Amir Anvarzadeh said.
Chip wafer makers such as Sumco Corp also stand to benefit from strong memory demand next year, he said.
Still, the stock’s performance has raised some concerns about overvaluation which have also weighed on other AI-related shares. Kioxia dropped 23 percent in a day after its quarterly earnings undershot investors’ lofty expectations last month.
However, with memory demand still far outstripping supply, Kioxia looks well-placed to weather AI market jitters next year, Anvarzadeh said.
“Worries about a data center investment slowdown shouldn’t really affect memory prices for next term, as the market is already heavily undersupplied,” he said.
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