Fujikurawhich produces cabling for data centersis the best-performing company on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, and its shares are up more than 400% this year. The company will join MSCI’s global standard indices on November 25 as the only company from Japan, while eight other companies from that country will be removed, Bloomberg reports.
The rise of the AI industry has taken the cable company by surprise
According to an analysis by Bloomberg News, construction data centerselectricity supplies and communications networks needed for AI will require at least $1 trillion in spending. The rapid development of the industry surprised the Fujikura company itself.
“Demand for data centers has increased dramatically from around 2022,” Kazuhito Iijima, Fujikura’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. “We didn’t really understand it at the time, but this year it became clear that it was about artificial intelligence.”
Fujikura who passes Apple to its largest customers, specializing in fiber optic cables. Its products have some of the smallest diameters in the industry, which allows them to be used in narrow spaces without the need for additional tunneling.
More and more data centers, more and more orders
Earlier this month, the company raised its operating revenue forecast by 17% to 104 billion yen ($674 million) for the current fiscal year. The company earns more than 70% of its revenues abroad, of which approximately 38% comes from the US.
“This area is still in its early stages of development,” said Kazuhiro Sasaki, head of research at Phillip Securities Japan. “The amount of data will grow as the system scales and more data is added, so the field itself should continue to evolve.”
The company’s roots date back to 1885, when founder Zenpachi Fujikura began the production of silk and cotton insulated cables. Over the centuries, the company grew as the country industrialized, supplying cables to the burgeoning automotive industry, utilities and Japanese bullet trains.
Another chance: nuclear fusion
After being surprised by the artificial intelligence boom, Fujikura says it has already identified the next big opportunity – nuclear fusion. The prospect of theoretically unlimited clean energy has gained the support of many billionaires, including Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. While this technology has not been proven to work in large-scale electricity production, if and when it does, there will be a need for cables and wires. “We hope this will become a pillar of the industry from 2030,” Iijima said.
