Kioxia Lost Half Its Market Cap in a Month — Wall Street Just Hiked Targets Anyway 🤯

Shares of Japan's Kioxia Holdings Corporation (285A) have fallen roughly 45% from their June 22 record high of ¥111,250, a level that briefly made the memory-chip maker Japan's largest company by market cap, surpassing Toyota. The stock dropped to a low of ¥52,110 last Friday before recovering about 9% to ¥55,860 by Tuesday, July 21, leaving it down 42% for the month.

Despite the slide, several analysts have raised or maintained price targets. Kazuyoshi Saito, senior analyst at Iwai Cosmo Securities, kept his target at ¥132,000, saying "the fundamentals have not changed at all." Nomura Securities raised its target from ¥115,000 to ¥126,000 last week, while Huaxing Research lifted its target above ¥100,000 around the same period. The consensus target near ¥121,959 implies approximately 118% upside from Tuesday's close.

Other market participants remain cautious. Ikio Mitsuishi, portfolio manager at Aizu Securities, said he expects Kioxia to stay weak until at least late August as investors rotate into cheaper, less volatile names. The volatility mirrors broader swings across Asian chipmakers, with SK Hynix's Nasdaq-listed shares recently jumping more than 20% in a single session before giving back double-digit gains days later.

The wider Japanese chip-sector selloff this month has erased trillions of yen in market value, putting the spotlight on whether the volatility subsides before the next earnings season.