Kioxia shares plunge amid Toshiba stake cut and new leveraged ETFs

Kioxia Holdings, the Japanese NAND flash memory producer, saw its shares drop more than 12% to €294 after Toshiba announced a reduction of its stake from 16.1% to 15.1%. Around the same time, South Korean regulators accelerated tougher rules for single‑stock leveraged ETFs, increasing pressure on volatile tech stocks like Kioxia. The company also faced renewed merger speculation with Western Digital, which could reshape the competitive landscape against Samsung and SK Hynix.

In the United States, a wave of single‑stock leveraged ETFs that track Kioxia launched on the Cboe BZX exchange in late June. The Corgi Kioxia 2x Daily ETF and similar products from Roundhill and GraniteShares amplified price swings, contributing to a 9.49% intraday loss on July 24 and earlier single‑day drops of up to 16%. These ETFs reset leverage daily, creating feedback loops that magnify volatility and can lead to volatility decay over longer periods.