Japan Stock of the Day | Kabutaro & Friends

On August 18, 2026, the most talked-about Japanese stock online was Taiyo Yuden <6976>.
Background: A filing submitted on August 18 by Situational Awareness, a U.S. hedge fund specializing in AI-related stocks, revealed that it had sold its Taiyo Yuden shares off-market on August 3. According to the filing, it sold shares to a Citadel fund at 9,397 yen per share and also sold portions of its holdings to Jane Street, JPMorgan, and Barclays at 10,225 yen per share. The fund's stake, which peaked at 16.61% on July 22, fell from 15.22% to 4.41% as of August 3. At the end of July, the fund's assets under management had plunged from 45 billion dollars to roughly 10 billion dollars amid a sharp drop in semiconductor stocks and margin calls, and this sale appears to be part of that unwinding. Since the stock had rallied last week on news of the fund's investment, the reversal triggered heavy selling. The shares closed down 1,304 yen (-11.54%) at 9,991 yen, the largest decliner on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market and the biggest loser among Nikkei 225 constituents. The Nikkei 225 fell sharply for the first time in six sessions, down 1,759 yen, as a steep rise in crude oil futures and higher interest rates prompted profit-taking across AI and semiconductor stocks. Murata Manufacturing <6981> also fell 9.58%.