[Click eStock] "Kioxia to See Continued Robust NAND Demand"

On August 4, NH Investment & Securities projected that robust NAND demand for Japan's Kioxia Holdings is expected to continue.

Youngho Ryu, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "Kioxia’s results for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 (April to June) fell short of high market expectations, but were still strong overall. The surge in demand for NAND, driven by the expansion of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) and inference workloads, has now begun to be fully reflected in prices."

Kioxia recorded the highest performance in its history for the first quarter, with sales up 415.5% year-on-year to 1.8 trillion yen. Operating profit soared 2,833.2% to 1.3 trillion yen. Ryu explained, "While results slightly underperformed market expectations, taking into account one-off costs such as litigation and stock-based compensation, as well as some shipment delays, the results were generally in line. The significant growth was primarily due to the sharp increase in prices." Bit growth (increase in shipment volume) remained in the low single-digit range, but prices jumped nearly 70%. For smart devices, including smartphones and automotive memory, sales reached 525.7 billion yen—up 55.8% from the previous quarter—driven by the impact of price hikes.

Growth is expected to continue into the second quarter. Ryu said, "Second-quarter growth will also be propelled by sustained price increases," adding, "Kioxia expects demand to exceed supply in 2027."

Shareholder return measures are also anticipated to have a positive impact on investment sentiment. Kioxia is set to carry out a share buyback program worth 800 billion yen. The company plans to acquire up to 30 million shares—equivalent to 5.5% of outstanding shares excluding treasury stock—by October 30. Additionally, from October 1, the company will implement a three-for-one stock split for common shares to improve retail investor accessibility. Ryu assessed, "Shareholder return policies such as the 800 billion yen buyback, effective since August 3, and the three-for-one stock split are positive for investor sentiment."

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