Kioxia Falls as It Plans $10B U.S. ADR Listing

Kioxia’s shares fell to ¥51,720 on Tuesday as the company moves to raise $10 billion by listing American Depositary Shares on a U.S. exchange. The company disclosed the plan aims to strengthen its balance sheet and increase liquidity in the United States. Kioxia is working with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan on an offering that could take place next year.

The Tokyo-listed stock traded below last week’s high of ¥61,300 and well below a June peak near ¥112,750. In its disclosure the company said a U.S. listing would allow inclusion in major semiconductor indices.

Kioxia supplies flash storage and solid-state drives to large technology customers, including Apple, Microsoft and Google. In its most recent quarter the company reported revenue of more than ¥1.76 trillion, up from about ¥1 trillion in the prior quarter. Revenue from SSD and storage totaled roughly ¥1.17 trillion, smart-device unit sales contributed about ¥525 billion, and operating profit rose to ¥842 billion.

The planned listing would follow SK Hynix’s U.S. offering in July, which raised $26.5 billion. SK Hynix’s U.S. shares initially fell after that offering before recovering.

Kioxia has announced a buyback of 30 million shares, equivalent to about 5.47% of outstanding stock. Company officials indicated the combination of repurchases and proceeds from a U.S. listing is intended to improve financial flexibility.

Technical charts show the stock has retreated since June, falling from a peak near ¥112,750 to current levels and trading below the 50-day exponential moving average. The daily chart displays a symmetrical triangle pattern formed after the mid-year decline. Some analysts point to a near-term downside reference at the July low of ¥35,970; a sustained move above the triangle’s upper line would alter that technical view.