Kioxia Soars to Second in Japan by Market Cap During Trading... Nikkei Index Surpasses 68,000 for the First Time

Japanese NAND flash manufacturer Kioxia surged on expectations of increased investment in artificial intelligence (AI), briefly rising to become the second-largest company by market capitalization on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As funds flowed into AI-related stocks, the Nikkei 225 Index surpassed the 68,000 mark during trading for the first time in its history.

On the morning of June 3, Kioxia's share price on the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed approximately 7% from the previous session to 83,140 yen. As a result, its market capitalization temporarily exceeded 45 trillion yen, or about 427 trillion won.

During this process, the ranking of Japanese listed companies by market capitalization was briefly reshuffled to SoftBank Group in first place, Kioxia in second, and Toyota Motor in third. However, as of 10:03 a.m., Kioxia's share price fell back to around 78,690 yen, allowing Toyota to reclaim the second spot.

Kioxia has maintained a steep upward trend in its stock price, fueled by optimism over rising NAND flash demand as AI data centers expand. As recently as June last year, Kioxia ranked 159th by market capitalization, but in just about a year, it has climbed to the second spot in the Japanese stock market during intraday trading.

The Nikkei newspaper analyzed that investor sentiment was boosted by Kioxia's mention of considering the introduction of a progressive dividend and the possibility of share buybacks at its investor relations (IR) meeting held the previous day.

At the briefing, Kioxia emphasized that its recent earnings improvement would not be a short-term phenomenon, noting that long-term supply contracts with major NAND flash customers are increasing.

Recently, there has been a clear trend of funds concentrating on AI-related companies in the Japanese stock market. SoftBank Group, which overtook Toyota to become Japan's largest company by market capitalization on June 1, is also considered a leading AI beneficiary stock.

Amid this atmosphere, the Nikkei 225 Average (Nikkei Index), Japan's leading stock index, soared to 68,172.76 points during the morning, up 1,438.52 points or 2.16% from the previous day, breaking above the 68,000 intraday mark for the first time ever.

The market capitalization of Murata Manufacturing, a producer of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) for AI data centers, also temporarily surpassed 20 trillion yen, or about 190 trillion won, during the morning session.

In contrast, Toyota Motor has recently appeared relatively sidelined amid the surge in AI-related stocks.

The Nikkei noted that the uncertainty surrounding the auto industry, stemming from increased instability in the Middle East and the Trump administration's push during negotiations to revise the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) for a higher share of U.S.-made parts, has weighed on Toyota's share price.

This rally is seen as a symbolic moment, illustrating that the concentration of funds in AI and semiconductor-related companies is becoming a prominent feature of the Japanese stock market.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.