SSD & StorageNarrow moat

Kioxia Holdings (285A) — moat facet

The drive business grew 2.6 times in two years; whether it stays two-thirds of the company depends on what happens when prices stop rising.

SSD & Storage is the application that has taken over Kioxia. It had revenue of ¥1,362,638 million in the year to March 2026, from ¥991,147 million a year earlier and ¥516,361 million two years earlier 1, 58% of the company 2. The filing defines it as solid-state drives and memory products for PCs, data centres and enterprises 3.

SSD & Storage revenue (¥bn)¥516.4bnYear to Mar 2024¥991.1bnYear to Mar 2025¥1,362.6bnYear to Mar 2026¥1.17tnJune 2026 quarterKioxia Annual Securities Reports FY2024 and FY2025; Q1 FY2026 results
One quarter of drive sales in 2026 was 86% of the whole year to March 2026.

What is sold is a finished drive rather than a chip: flash, a controller and firmware, qualified by the customer for a particular server or PC. Qualification takes time and ties a drive to a platform, which is why the line is steadier than raw flash in a normal year and why it follows its customers' capital budgets. The filing notes that a very limited number of large customers account for the majority of the market for data-centre and enterprise SSDs 4.

The history is one cycle. In the year to March 2024 the industry cut production and Kioxia sold below cost across the company 5. Two years later the line had grown 2.6 times 6, and the filing attributes the company's growth in the year to March 2026 primarily to a significant increase in selling prices following strong demand from generative AI-centred data-centre customers, as well as higher bit shipments 7.

No profit is disclosed for the line. Kioxia's non-GAAP operating margin was 75% in the June 2026 quarter 8, and data-centre drives were the main source of it.

The latest quarter was the largest by far. SSD & Storage revenue was ¥1.17 trillion in the three months to June 2026, up 440% on a year earlier and 96% on the previous quarter, with data-centre and enterprise sales more than 60% of the line 9. It was 66% of company revenue 10.

The outlook depends on how much of the growth is price. Management expects NAND bit demand to grow in the high teens in calendar 2026 and demand to outpace supply by 2027 11, and is working toward long-term agreements covering about half of 2028 shipments 12. The number that would change the verdict is the line's share of revenue in the first quarter after prices stop rising: holding near two-thirds would mean the data-centre shift is structural, and falling back toward half would mean it was mostly price.

Moat trajectory: Widening

Revenue up 440% year on year in the June 2026 quarter, with data-centre drives over 60% of the line.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
SSD & Storage revenue, latest quarter
¥1.17tn in the June 2026 quarter, +440% year on year and +96% on the quarter

Holding near two-thirds of revenue after prices peak would mean the data-centre shift is structural.

Source: Kioxia Q1 FY2026 results ↗
References
  1. ReportedIt had revenue of ¥1,362,638 million in the year to March 2026, from ¥991,147 million a year earlier and ¥516,361 million two years earlier , 58% of the company .
    Kioxia Holdings Annual Securities Report FY2025 (year to 31 March 2026) - single Memory segment; revenue by application (SSD & Storage, Smart Devices, Other) and their definitions; customers above 10% (Apple ¥476.0bn, 20.4%); production cuts from October 2022 to March 2024; drivers of revenue growth — FY2024-FY2025 · publ. June 2026 · source ↗
  2. Moat Explorer calcIt had revenue of ¥1,362,638 million in the year to March 2026, from ¥991,147 million a year earlier and ¥516,361 million two years earlier , 58% of the company .
    Moat Explorer calculation from Kioxia's Annual Securities Reports and Q1 FY2026 results: shares of revenue and growth multiples — FY2023 to Q1 FY2026 · publ. 2026-09-23 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThe filing defines it as solid-state drives and memory products for PCs, data centres and enterprises .
    Kioxia Holdings Annual Securities Report FY2025 (year to 31 March 2026) - single Memory segment; revenue by application (SSD & Storage, Smart Devices, Other) and their definitions; customers above 10% (Apple ¥476.0bn, 20.4%); production cuts from October 2022 to March 2024; drivers of revenue growth — FY2024-FY2025 · publ. June 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe filing notes that a very limited number of large customers account for the majority of the market for data-centre and enterprise SSDs .
    Kioxia Holdings Annual Securities Report FY2025 (year to 31 March 2026) - single Memory segment; revenue by application (SSD & Storage, Smart Devices, Other) and their definitions; customers above 10% (Apple ¥476.0bn, 20.4%); production cuts from October 2022 to March 2024; drivers of revenue growth — FY2024-FY2025 · publ. June 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedIn the year to March 2024 the industry cut production and Kioxia sold below cost across the company .
    Kioxia Holdings Annual Securities Report FY2024 (year to 31 March 2025) - revenue by application for the years to March 2024 and 2025; revenue against cost of sales; customers above 10% including the Sandisk group (¥170.5bn and ¥198.6bn) — FY2023-FY2024 · publ. June 2025 · source ↗
  6. Moat Explorer calcTwo years later the line had grown 2.6 times , and the filing attributes the company's growth in the year to March 2026 primarily to a significant increase in selling prices following strong demand from generative AI-centred data-centre customers, as well as higher bit shipments .
    Moat Explorer calculation from Kioxia's Annual Securities Reports and Q1 FY2026 results: shares of revenue and growth multiples — FY2023 to Q1 FY2026 · publ. 2026-09-23 · source ↗
  7. ReportedTwo years later the line had grown 2.6 times , and the filing attributes the company's growth in the year to March 2026 primarily to a significant increase in selling prices following strong demand from generative AI-centred data-centre customers, as well as higher bit shipments .
    Kioxia Holdings Annual Securities Report FY2025 (year to 31 March 2026) - single Memory segment; revenue by application (SSD & Storage, Smart Devices, Other) and their definitions; customers above 10% (Apple ¥476.0bn, 20.4%); production cuts from October 2022 to March 2024; drivers of revenue growth — FY2024-FY2025 · publ. June 2026 · source ↗
  8. ReportedKioxia's non-GAAP operating margin was 75% in the June 2026 quarter , and data-centre drives were the main source of it.
    Kioxia Holdings first-quarter FY2026 results and earnings call (three months to 30 June 2026), as reported by BigGo Finance - revenue by application, ASP and bit growth, margins, demand outlook, LTA target — Q1 FY2026 · publ. 3 August 2026 · source ↗
  9. ReportedSSD & Storage revenue was ¥1.17 trillion in the three months to June 2026, up 440% on a year earlier and 96% on the previous quarter, with data-centre and enterprise sales more than 60% of the line .
    Kioxia Holdings first-quarter FY2026 results and earnings call (three months to 30 June 2026), as reported by BigGo Finance - revenue by application, ASP and bit growth, margins, demand outlook, LTA target — Q1 FY2026 · publ. 3 August 2026 · source ↗
  10. ReportedIt was 66% of company revenue .
    Kioxia Holdings first-quarter FY2026 results and earnings call (three months to 30 June 2026), as reported by BigGo Finance - revenue by application, ASP and bit growth, margins, demand outlook, LTA target — Q1 FY2026 · publ. 3 August 2026 · source ↗
  11. ReportedManagement expects NAND bit demand to grow in the high teens in calendar 2026 and demand to outpace supply by 2027 , and is working toward long-term agreements covering about half of 2028 shipments .
    Kioxia Holdings first-quarter FY2026 results and earnings call (three months to 30 June 2026), as reported by BigGo Finance - revenue by application, ASP and bit growth, margins, demand outlook, LTA target — Q1 FY2026 · publ. 3 August 2026 · source ↗
  12. ReportedManagement expects NAND bit demand to grow in the high teens in calendar 2026 and demand to outpace supply by 2027 , and is working toward long-term agreements covering about half of 2028 shipments .
    Kioxia Holdings first-quarter FY2026 results and earnings call (three months to 30 June 2026), as reported by BigGo Finance - revenue by application, ASP and bit growth, margins, demand outlook, LTA target — Q1 FY2026 · publ. 3 August 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026