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Kioxia guided December-quarter revenue of ¥2,500.0 billion and non-GAAP operating profit of ¥2,000.0 billion, roughly flat with the September quarter, and its shares fell 11% in early Tokyo trading on Monday, according to TECHi.
Kioxia said data center demand should stay strong, but cited the negative impact of exchange rates for the flat outlook.
SK Hynix (SKHY) expects memory demand to exceed supply through 2030, with long-term agreements covering more than 50% of its 2027 and 2028 capacity.
Gotrade News - Kioxia shares fell 11% in early Tokyo trading on Monday, according to TECHi, after the flash memory maker guided December-quarter operating profit flat at about ¥2 trillion. Fellow memory maker SK Hynix (SKHY), whose shares also trade on Nasdaq, still expects memory demand to exceed supply through 2030.
According to Kioxia's results filing, the company expects October to December revenue of ¥2,500.0 billion, up 0.8% from ¥2,480.0 billion in the September quarter, and non-GAAP operating profit of ¥2,000.0 billion, up 0.6%. Bloomingbit, citing Bloomberg, reported that the ¥2 trillion forecast, about $12.7 billion, came in far below market estimates.
Regular-session close on October 30, 2026, New York time. Prices and changes: Yahoo Finance, cross-checked against the closing price on Nasdaq.com. 52-week range: Yahoo Finance daily highs and lows since October 31, 2025.
Kioxia Guides Q3 Operating Profit Near ¥2 Trillion
TECHi reported the stock at ¥11,985 at 9:34 a.m. Tokyo time, down 11.0% from Friday's close of ¥13,470. The flat guide follows a steep climb: Kioxia's earnings report showed September-quarter revenue of ¥2,480.0 billion, up from ¥1,767.1 billion in the June quarter, and non-GAAP operating profit of ¥1,988.3 billion, up from ¥1,326.2 billion, per the company's filing.
The filing said demand from smartphone and PC customers is trending down, while demand for AI servers at data centers and enterprise customers is increasing. Kioxia explained the outlook this way:
"While demand for data centers is expected to remain strong, factors such as the negative impact of exchange rates are expected to lead to revenue and profit for the third quarter being broadly in line with that of the second quarter." (Kioxia Holdings, results filing, October 30, 2026)
The outlook assumes an average exchange rate of 157 yen per US dollar, against 161 yen in the September quarter, according to the filing. Bloomingbit reported that investors also worried memory price gains could stall after the previous quarter.
Monday's drop also followed a heavy Friday for US chip stocks. As reported by Bloomingbit, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 7.2% on October 30 after major tech earnings missed expectations, with Intel posting its biggest drop in more than four decades. Shoji Hirakawa, chief global strategist at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Lab, said Kioxia's disappointing outlook "could heighten concerns about profitability across Japan's technology sector," per Bloomingbit.
SK Hynix (SKHY): Demand Seen Above Supply Through 2030
SK Hynix struck a different tone with its results last week. According to SK hynix's third-quarter release, revenue reached 104.6155 trillion won and operating profit 83.3338 trillion won, an 80% operating margin. The company said it "expects the structure in which demand exceeds supply to persist through 2030," and that long-term agreements with 14 major customers cover more than 50% of its total production capacity for 2027 and 2028.
As reported by Yahoo Finance, operating profit rose 632% from a year earlier, US-listed SK Hynix shares rose more than 9% on Wednesday, October 28, and Micron (MU) rose 4% the same day. RBC Capital Markets analyst Srini Pajjuri wrote: "Robust AI demand, coupled with a shift toward memory-intensive agentic AI, continues to outpace supply."
The Seoul shares eased on Monday. Per TradingKey, SK Hynix fell 1.4% to 1,399,000 won in early trading on November 2, Samsung Electronics dropped 3% to 218,500 won, and the KOSPI slipped 1.10% to 5,667.49 as semiconductors weighed on the index.
Sandisk (SNDK): Shares Fell 13.5% in Friday's Chip Selloff
NAND peer Sandisk (SNDK) had already slid before Kioxia's Tokyo session. According to Yahoo Finance, Sandisk closed at $1,150.89 on October 30, down 13.47% from the previous session, on a day TECHi noted the broader US market was also weak.
Sandisk's own guidance calls for fiscal second-quarter revenue of $12.2 billion to $12.6 billion, as reported by TECHi, after fiscal first-quarter revenue rose 23% from the prior quarter to $11.031 billion and data-center revenue rose 61% to $4.802 billion. TECHi also noted that an eight-for-one stock split takes effect later in November, and wrote of Kioxia: "Flat guidance after exceptional growth is not the same as collapsing demand."
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M. Alfathan Rahman is a content writer with over 3 years of experience developing digital content strategies across various industries, including fintech. He has experience producing content for tax-related websites and financial education platforms. His focus areas include data research, and crafting financial articles that are informative, accurate, and accessible to investors of all experience levels.
Hendrie Saputra holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Business Risk & Finance, along with professional experience in finance, marketing, and project management. He is experienced in analyzing market data and developing research-driven business strategies.
