A memory chip company that went public at a $5.2 billion valuation in December 2024 correct temporarily overtook Toyota Motor Corp. as Japan’s most precious company. Kioxia Holdings Corp., the broken-down Toshiba memory division, hit an intraday market cap above ¥45 trillion, roughly $281 billion, on June 3.
Kioxia’s shares earn risen more than 3,500% since its IPO. Toyota, the automaker that dominated Japan’s corporate hierarchy for years, got leapfrogged twice in three days. SoftBank Neighborhood pulled ahead on June 1 with a market cap exceeding ¥Forty eight trillion, and Kioxia adopted on June 3.
The numbers on the aid of the surge
Kioxia’s inventory climbed 7.2% on June 3, touching an intraday high of ¥83,140 per share prior to settling aid to shut at ¥78,080. That closing sign keep its market valuation at roughly ¥42.7 trillion, technically below Toyota’s ¥45.5 trillion on the pause of the session.
Kioxia’s shares earn gained more than 660% year-to-date by early June 2026. The company reported file quarterly earnings of ¥596.8 billion for the length ending March 2026. The following quarter appears to be like like even bigger, with an anticipated working earnings of ¥1.3 trillion, about $8.2 billion, for the June length.
Why NAND flash memory is by surprise worth more than vehicles
Kioxia has been increasing NAND flash memory since 1987. Toshiba Memory became once offered to a Bain Capital-led consortium in 2018 to duvet losses from its nuclear energy industry. The division became once rebranded as Kioxia in 2019 and spent years as a privately held company prior to finally going public in December 2024. At that point, its initial valuation of ¥780 billion, about $5.2 billion, mirrored a market that soundless considered NAND flash as a commodity play.
What this form for customers
Toyota is now the third most precious company in Japan. The tip two spots belong to SoftBank Neighborhood and Kioxia, each and each propelled by the AI commerce.
An anticipated working earnings of $8.2 billion in a single quarter would space Kioxia among the many most profitable chipmakers globally. Samsung and SK Hynix are each and each expanding capability in the identical NAND flash market. Bain Capital remains a dominant shareholder, and any substantial-scale share sales could additionally originate foremost downward stress on the inventory.
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