Kioxia, the Japanese memory-chip maker that was carved out of Toshiba in 2018 and previously known as Toshiba Memory, saw its stock fall 12% on Friday amid a wider selloff in AI-related names. The drop followed a report that ChatGPT creator OpenAI is considering postponing its initial public offering, a move that rattled investors across companies tied to artificial intelligence demand.
The company has benefited in recent periods from heightened AI investment, a factor that helped push Kioxia to become the most valuable constituent of the Nikkei 225 index. Despite that recent strength, the market reaction to the OpenAI IPO report erased significant gains in a single trading session.
The New York Times reported that OpenAI may hold off on an IPO until next year as chief executive Sam Altman pursues a $1 trillion valuation for the business. That report set the tone for Friday’s weakness among firms whose fortunes are linked to AI spending and hardware demand.
Separately, Kioxia said on Thursday that it is considering a stock split and plans to list American depositary shares on a U.S. exchange at the beginning of the next financial year, which runs until March 2028. Those moves are intended to broaden the company’s investor base and increase access to U.S. capital markets.
At Kioxia’s annual general meeting, Chief Financial Officer Yoshihiko Kawamura commented on the timing of the planned U.S. share listing, saying: "Whether it’s April, May, or June is not yet clear, but we’re hoping to list... around that time."
The trend of Asian technology companies seeking U.S. listings has picked up momentum. This week chipmaker SK Hynix said it plans to raise up to $29.4 billion through a U.S. listing, another example of firms aiming to attract American investors.
Market observers weighed the announcements about Kioxia’s potential U.S. listing alongside the OpenAI IPO report. "The timeframe to complete this offering suggests that (Kioxia) is highly confident of its ability to continue to produce outstanding results in the next 9-12 months," analyst Douglas Kim wrote on the Smartkarma platform.
Friday’s selling pressure highlighted the sensitivity of memory-chip stocks and other AI-linked equities to headlines about AI financing and public-market timelines. Kioxia’s moves to restructure its share profile and seek U.S. depositary listings indicate a push to diversify its investor base even as near-term sentiment proved volatile.