Toto $190 million semiconductor bet lifts shares to 2021 high
Toto, the Japanese brand famous for smart toilets, is suddenly hot on the stock market. Why?
The company just dropped $190 million to boost production of semiconductor parts, riding the wave of demand from the booming AI industry.
Investors loved it: Toto's shares shot up 18%, reaching their highest point since 2021.
Toto 2nd-largest electrostatic chuck maker
Turns out, Toto isn't just about fancy bathrooms. It's now the world's second-largest maker of electrostatic chucks, key components for memory chip manufacturing.
With AI fueling massive chip demand, semiconductors now make up over half of Toto's profits.
Meanwhile, its toilet business is struggling with supply chain snags due to shortages caused by the Middle East energy crunch, forcing a pause on new toilet orders since mid-April.