Toto shares surged Friday after the Japanese toilet maker reported record annual earnings and unveiled plans to expand production of semiconductor components, turning the washlet brand into one of the stranger AI infrastructure plays in global markets.
Shares jumped more than 18% to ¥6,425 after Toto said operating profit rose to ¥53.8 billion for the year ended March 31, up from ¥48.5 billion a year earlier. Net sales increased to ¥737.4 billion from ¥724.5 billion, with both figures reaching record highs despite weaker conditions in parts of its housing equipment business.
The rally was driven by Toto’s advanced ceramics division, which makes electrostatic chucks used in NAND memory chip production. Sales in the business climbed to ¥67.4 billion, while operating profit rose to ¥28.9 billion, fueled by demand for electrostatic chucks and ceramic components used in semiconductor manufacturing.
That puts the maker of Japan’s best known bidet toilets directly inside the AI supply chain. NAND memory demand has strengthened alongside data center expansion, giving investors another way to bet on the compute buildout without buying the usual chip names. Toto said it plans to step up investment in electrostatic chucks as it sees sustained demand from data centers and AI related applications.
The company expects another year of record profit in fiscal 2027, supported by semiconductor demand and new investment in chip related components. That outlook helped overshadow weaker international housing equipment operations and concerns over its core toilet and bathroom fittings business.
The market reaction shows how hot the AI trade remains. Investors are still rewarding companies with exposure to chips, memory, data centers, and compute infrastructure, even when those companies are better known for toilets, shoes, cosmetics, or food ingredients than semiconductors.
Allbirds offered an even more extreme example earlier this month. The struggling shoe company said it would pivot toward AI computing infrastructure, rebrand as NewBird AI, raise $50 million through convertible financing, and use the funds to buy GPUs.
Its shares surged more than fivefold after the announcement, even though the company had recently sold its brand and footwear assets for $39 million and had lost about 99% of its market value since its 2021 Nasdaq debut.
The Allbirds move triggered skepticism because the company gave few details on its AI strategy and had no obvious operating history in cloud infrastructure. Business Insider reported that several market professionals compared the pivot to past bubble era rebrands, when companies attached themselves to hot market narratives to revive investor interest.
Toto’s case is more grounded. Its advanced ceramics business already sells real components into semiconductor manufacturing, and its chip related unit is now a major profit contributor.