River Eletec <6666> surged as much as 25% to 1,311 yen. Electronic component manufacturers, including Murata Manufacturing <6981>, have become investment targets amid AI data center demand. This trend has extended to crystal product makers, as the data center boom drives demand for optical transceivers. River Eletec has distinguished itself by developing oscillators specifically for optical transceivers using proprietary electron beam processing, with mass production slated for this fiscal year. "Considerable short positions have accumulated, and buying pressure aimed at a short squeeze has been observed," noted a strategist at a mid-tier securities firm.

Drone-related stocks saw aggressive investment, with Terra Drone <278A> rising limit-up, while Blue Innovation <5597>, ACSL <6232>, and Liberaware <218A> also gained. Interest follows the government’s April 21 abolition of restrictions on lethal defense equipment exports and comments from Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on the necessity of domestic drone production. Terra Drone is leading speculative buying following its partnership with Ukrainian defense tech firm Amazing Drones and the launch of its "Terra A1" interceptor drone. The company will hold a briefing on its full-scale entry into the defense market on April 28.

Asgent <4288> surged limit-up after announcing a partnership with UK-based Hirundo AI to launch "machine unlearning" technology in Japan by mid-May. The platform, "Hirundo," allows companies to selectively remove specific data from AI models to mitigate hallucination risks. The offering price is 22.8 million yen, with a target of 30 implementations within a year.

THine Electronics <6769> gapped up to a new high. As investors target niche optical semiconductor stocks to address power consumption and heat issues in AI data centers, THine has gained prominence for its DSP-less optical semiconductors. These components use analog technology to restore signals, offering significantly lower power consumption than traditional digital processing.

Jtec <3446> extended gains for a third session, supported by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index’s 15-day winning streak. Overseas investors are targeting Jtec for its ultra-high-precision X-ray focusing mirrors and next-generation polishing technologies, which are positioned to meet demand in the AI data center and defense sectors.

Obic <4684> rebounded sharply after reporting fiscal year ended March 2026 sales of 135,209 million yen (up 11.5%) and operating profit of 88,823 million yen (up 13.3%). For the fiscal year ending March 2027, the company forecasts sales of 148,700 million yen and operating profit of 98,000 million yen. Obic also announced a dividend increase to 94 yen and a share buyback of up to 10 million shares or 50,000 million yen through March 31, 2027.

*This report may contain unconfirmed information. Stock trading decisions are made at your own risk and judgment.

Source: MINKABU PRESS

*Translated by generative AI. Click here for the original article.