Advantest Beat Lifts AI and Chip Stocks, Easing Nikkei Slide

2026-07-30

Japan's Nikkei stock average rebounded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on the 30th for the first time in three sessions, closing 433.24 points higher than the previous day at 61,867.43. The rally in Advantest, which reported strong earnings on the 29th, triggered buybacks in some artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks that had been under pressure. During the session, gains at one point topped 1,400 points.

Strong Advantest Results Support the Market

On the US stock market on the 29th, selling of tech shares resurfaced after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, but the Nikkei quickly recovered after opening lower. Supporting investor sentiment was the bullish outlook presented by Advantest. UBS Securities analyst Atsuhiro Kinoshita described it as 'flawless.' Advantest said consolidated net profit for the fiscal year ending March 2027 was expected to rise 76% from the previous year to 660 billion yen, far above market expectations for expanding demand for testing equipment for AI and semiconductors. The stock at one point rose 17%, lifting the Nikkei by 660 points on its own.

Caution Remains on a Full AI Rebound

Advantest also raised its estimate for the market size for system-on-chip, or SoC, products that integrate multiple semiconductor functions onto a single chip, to 10.5 billion to 11.5 billion dollars from a previous forecast of 8.7 billion to 9.5 billion dollars. Kinoshita at UBS said the company stands to benefit from market expansion supported by demand for inference AI. Buying also spread to Tokyo Electron and to NEC and Hitachi after both companies raised their earnings outlooks.

Still, many investors remain cautious about whether the AI rally has truly bottomed out. Takayuki Ishibashi, vice president at Goldman Sachs Securities, said it is hard to see AI stocks reversing course on this news alone. Daisuke Hashizume, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities, also said that at this stage it cannot yet be called a recovery in the AI rally. SoftBank Group, which has led the market higher until now, fell as much as 5%, weighed down by its UK-based Arm Holdings unit's revenue outlook falling short of market expectations.

Kioxia Holdings, which is due to announce earnings on the 31st, rebounded for the first time in six sessions, rising as much as 17%. Buying was helped by comments from South Korea's Samsung Electronics, which held its earnings briefing on the 30th and mentioned the possibility of shareholder returns. Goldman Sachs's Ishibashi said Kioxia rose 'like a mirror image.' Kohei Onishi, senior investment strategy researcher at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, said that for now the move 'does not go beyond buying for a technical rebound.' The Nikkei remains below its 100-day moving average, a widely watched medium- to long-term benchmark, suggesting some investors are stepping in to buy on dips.

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