Shares of Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia tumbled 12% on Friday after a report surfaced that OpenAI — the company behind ChatGPT — is weighing a delay to its planned initial public offering, sending AI-linked stocks into a broad decline.
Kioxia, which was formerly known as Toshiba Memory and separated from Toshiba in 2018, is one of the world’s leading producers of memory chips. The company’s stock had been on a strong upward run fueled by surging investment in artificial intelligence, earning it the distinction of being the most valuable company on the Nikkei 225 index.
Friday’s sharp drop came after the New York Times reported that OpenAI is considering pushing back its IPO to next year, as CEO Sam Altman pursues a valuation of $1 trillion for the company.
Just a day earlier, on Thursday, Kioxia had announced it is exploring a stock split and intends to list American depositary shares on a U.S. exchange at the start of its next financial year, which runs through March 2028.
Speaking at Kioxia’s annual general meeting, Chief Financial Officer Yoshihiko Kawamura offered some insight into the timeline, saying: “Whether it’s April, May, or June is not yet clear, but we’re hoping to list… around that time.”
Kioxia is not alone in its push to tap U.S. investors. Chipmaker SK Hynix also announced this week that it plans to raise as much as $29.4 billion through a U.S. stock listing, reflecting a broader trend of Asian tech companies seeking to expand their American investor base.
One market analyst offered an optimistic read on Kioxia’s U.S. listing plans. “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,” wrote analyst Douglas Kim on the Smartkarma platform.
