Demand for AI storage exploded, and chip giant Kioxia soared 540% as the “stock king” in adulthood

The Zhitong Finance App learned that AI's greedy demand for data storage has made Japanese memory chip manufacturer Kioxia Holdings the biggest increase in the world this year. This shows that despite recent market fluctuations, the AI boom is still strong.

Kioxia's stock price rose by about 540% during the year, outperforming all other constituent stocks in the MSCI Global Index, and becoming the best-performing stock in the 2025 Japan Eastern Stock Exchange Index. This NAND flash memory manufacturer was only listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December of last year. Its customers include Apple (AAPL.US) and Microsoft (MSFT.US), and its current market value is about 5.7 trillion yen (36 billion US dollars).

The astonishing rise in Kioxia's stock price highlights the strong demand for memory chips in the tech industry, as hyperscale service providers compete to build AI infrastructure. Chips like those made by Kioxia are essential for AI training and data centers. This year, as demand soars, major tech companies are warning of a possible shortage of memory chips, and analysts are also predicting a sharp rise in prices.

This memory chip boom is beneficial to Kioxia's stock price, as investors expect strong demand and rising prices to boost its revenue. Amir Anvarzadeh, a Japanese stock strategist at Asymmetric Advisors, said: “In the field of technology, our allocation focus in 2026 is mainly memory chips, whether directly investing in Kioxia or related secondary derivatives.” He said chip wafer makers like Sumco Corp. are also expected to benefit from strong storage demand next year.

Despite this, the stock's performance has also raised some concerns about overvaluation, which has dragged down other AI-related stocks in recent months. In November, Kioxia's stock price fell 23% in a day after quarterly earnings fell short of investors' expectations.

However, Anvarzadeh said that given that storage demand still far exceeds supply, Kioxia appears to be well positioned to handle fluctuations in the AI market in 2026. He said, “Concerns about the slowdown in data center investment should actually not affect the price of memory chips in the next phase, because the market is already seriously in short supply.”