ch
English
Against the backdrop of the continuous expansion of global AI infrastructure and tightening supply of memory chips, Japanese memory giant Kioxia has seen a significant jump in performance and simultaneously launched plans to list in the United States, further attracting market attention.
On May 15th, local time, KIOXIA announced that it is planning to list its American Depositary Shares (ADS) representing common stock on the American Stock Exchange, hoping to expand its international investor base and enhance its business value. However, KIOXIA also emphasized that the plan still requires regulatory approval, and the timing, location, and method of listing have not been finalized. In the future, adjustments or withdrawals of relevant arrangements cannot be ruled out.
The financial report released on the same day showed that KIOXIA benefited from the strong demand for AI servers and data centers. In the fourth fiscal quarter of the fiscal year 2025 ending March 31, 2026, its performance significantly exceeded market expectations. The quarterly revenue reached 1.0029 trillion yen (approximately 43 billion yuan), a significant increase of 459.2% compared to the previous quarter; operating profit reached 596.8 billion yen (approximately 25.6 billion yuan), a 454% increase from the previous quarter, setting a new record high for the company and making it one of the most profitable enterprises in Japan.
Among them, SSD and storage business have become the main growth drivers, with a single-quarter sales of JPY 600.3 billion (approximately RMB 25.7 billion), a month-on-month increase of nearly 300%, reflecting the rapid rise in demand for high-performance storage driven by AI.
Hiroo Ota, President and CEO of KIOXIA, stated during the earnings briefing that the company is benefiting from the wave of AI demand, driving both revenue and profit to record levels. He emphasized that the current strong market trend will continue.
In February this year, Kioxia pointed out at the earnings conference that the company's NAND Flash production capacity for 2026 has been almost fully booked by customers, and it is expected that the market supply will remain tight throughout the year. Currently, the company has basically completed the long-term contract layout for 2026 and continued the cooperation model of "quantitative annual pricing and quarterly price adjustment". Some ultra-large customers have even proposed long-term supply needs covering the years from 2027 to 2028.
Looking ahead, KIOXIA remains highly optimistic about market demand. The company expects revenue for the first fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2026 ending June 30 to further climb to JPY 1.75 trillion (approximately RMB 74.8 billion), representing a 74.5% increase from the previous quarter; operating profit is expected to reach JPY 1.298 trillion (approximately RMB 55.6 billion), marking a further increase of 117.5% from the previous quarter.
According to a survey by TrendForce, due to the continuous expansion of demand for AI servers, the supply of DRAM and NAND Flash markets remains tight. TrendForce predicts that in the second quarter of 2026, the contract prices for general-purpose DRAM will increase by 58% to 63% quarter-on-quarter, while the contract prices for NAND Flash are expected to increase by 70% to 75% quarter-on-quarter. Among them, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) continue to shift their production capacity to high-margin products such as HBM and Enterprise SSDs, further compressing the supply of consumer-grade storage.
In addition to robust demand, the escalating prices of storage devices also exert cost pressures. KIOXIA pointed out that the prices of DRAM used as SSD cache have seen a notable increase recently. The company is evaluating the option of transferring some of the costs to customers, while simultaneously implementing stricter cost management measures to minimize the impact on the profits of its SSD business.
