"Net Profit of Japanese Listed Companies Hits Record High for Fifth Year, Driven by AI Semiconductors"

Kioxia's Net Profit Doubles
Toshiba Also Achieves Record Earnings

It is projected that the net profit of Japanese listed companies for the 2025 fiscal year (April 2025 to March 2026) will reach an all-time high for the fifth consecutive year. The strong performance of the semiconductor sector, driven by the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, has contributed to this improvement in earnings.

According to the Sankei Shimbun and Tokyo Shimbun on May 16, SMBC Nikko Securities compiled the earnings results and estimates of 1,117 listed companies with March fiscal year-ends. The net profit of these companies is expected to reach 57.265 trillion yen (approximately 541 trillion won), an increase of 6.2% compared to the previous year.

As a result, the net profit of Japanese listed companies with March fiscal year-ends is expected to set a new record high for the fifth consecutive year since 2022.

Tokyo Stock Exchange. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Among the companies surveyed, 935 companies, or 84% of the total, had already announced their earnings by May 14. For these companies alone, the net profit growth rate was 8.4%, higher than the overall average.

By industry, the information and communications sector, which includes semiconductor-related companies, saw net profit surge by 1.9 times year-on-year, supported by demand for AI data center expansion. The banking and non-ferrous metals sectors also showed strong performance.

In particular, Kioxia Holdings' net profit approximately doubled compared to the previous year. According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Kioxia's net profit for the April–June quarter this year is projected to reach 869 billion yen (about 8.2 trillion won), which is about 48 times higher than that of the same period last year.

Kioxia specializes in NAND flash memory production and ranks third in the global NAND market after Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Recently, rapid growth in sales of new NAND flash products has sharply increased revenues from data center customers.

Toshiba, which holds a stake in Kioxia, also recorded record annual net profit of 1.9673 trillion yen (about 18.6 trillion won), a sevenfold increase over the previous year.

In contrast, the automotive sector struggled due to the impact of U.S. tariff policies. Among Japan's seven major automakers, Honda and Nissan posted losses, while four companies, including Toyota and Subaru, saw net profit decline. Suzuki was the only company to increase its profit, having succeeded in expanding its market share in India.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.