Tight supply and demand have become apparent, with DRAM prices reaching approximately 9 times the year-earlier level. Supply of commodity products has been constrained by the skewed allocation of Samsung memory and growing AI demand, driving increased earnings and investment activity among related companies, including Kioxia and AKIBA. We have organized the earnings trends and upcoming catalysts for each company from four perspectives.
Reports from The Nikkei and data compiled by TrendForce indicate that DRAM bulk transaction prices reached 8.8 times the year-earlier level as of February 2026. While supplies of commodity products are tightening, demand for HBM and high-capacity products for AI servers is expanding. As a result, the overall memory market is expected to expand substantially.
TrendForce forecasts that commodity DRAM contract prices will rise 93–98% quarter on quarter in the January–March 2026 quarter and a further 58–63% in the April–June quarter. Although growth is expected to slow in the July–September quarter, prices are expected to continue rising overall, with the memory market in 2026 projected to grow 134% year on year to $551.6 billion.
トーメンデバイス and ミナトホールディングス were the first to benefit from this tailwind. トーメンデバイス raised its sales forecast for the current fiscal year from approximately ¥750 billion to ¥1.4 trillion and hit the daily price limit for 3 consecutive trading days. ミナトHD reported first-quarter sales up 343% year on year, while its share price surged to approximately four times its year-to-date low.
Meanwhile, Kioxia maintained high levels in the April–June quarter, with operating profit of ¥1.27 trillion and sales of ¥1.7671 trillion. Over the longer term, the company is continuing to expand its collaboration with SanDisk and pursue production investment plans, and has announced plans to develop a new building at its Kitakami plant and domestic investment plans. AKIBAホールディングス is seeing earnings expand amid tight supply and demand for legacy DRAM, although inventory valuation and segment profitability have been identified as risk factors.