To The Moon

Japan’s TOTO, best known for its high-end bidet toilets, has seen its share price post its biggest jump in five years amid the AI boom. But what the market is really betting on isn’t bathroom fixtures — it’s TOTO’s long-running, low-profile semiconductor materials business.

As AI data centers expand rapidly and memory chips remain in short supply, TOTO’s electrostatic chucks (ESCs) have become an essential component in chip manufacturing. They are used to secure silicon wafers while helping to control temperature stability and contamination during critical processes.

With NAND and other memory products entering a new wave of capacity expansion, this business segment is expected to deliver meaningful profit growth — prompting investors to reassess a company that doesn’t look like a tech name at first glance.

At the core is TOTO’s precision ceramics expertise. While it shares similarities with the ceramics used in its sanitary products, these advanced materials can withstand extreme heat and avoid interfering with sensitive semiconductor processes — quietly turning TOTO into an “invisible enabler” for wafer fabs.

The story highlights the uniqueness of Japan’s industrial structure: many companies that appear traditional — and seemingly unrelated to technology — have long been deeply embedded in the semiconductor supply chain. And when the AI wave hits, even a “toilet stock” can be repriced as a key beneficiary.