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- A toilet maker and seasoning giant are Japan's unlikely winners in the AI boom.
- Toto, famous for its bidets, has drawn investor attention because it makes key components for memory chips.
- Food giant Ajinimoto produces an insulating material used in advanced semiconductor packaging.
The AI boom isn't just lifting chipmakers and Big Tech. In Japan, it's flushing gains into a toilet manufacturer and a seasoning giant.
As demand for AI chips surges, investors are piling into companies that sit inside the semiconductor supply chain — even if they're better known for bathrooms and soup stock.
Toilet maker Toto, famous for its high-tech bidets and heated seats, has drawn investor attention. The company makes electrostatic chucks, which are critical components used in the production of NAND memory chips.
Memory prices have climbed sharply in recent months, driven by AI-related demand.
Last week, UK-based activist fund Palliser Capital called Toto "the most undervalued and overlooked AI memory beneficiary," according to reports by Bloomberg and the Financial Times.
After news broke on Tuesday that Palliser Capital had taken a stake and was pushing Toto to promote its chip-parts business, the toilet maker's stock jumped more than 5%. Its shares are up more than 54% over the past year.
It's not just Toto. Japanese food giant Ajinomoto, better known for its umami seasonings and soup bases, has become an unlikely AI infrastructure play. The company produces an insulating material used in advanced semiconductor packaging.
Ajinomoto's latest financials point to strength beyond its core food business. For the nine months ended December, the company reported an 8.9% rise in net profit, while operating profit increased 5.6% year-on-year. The gains were partly driven by its "Healthcare and Others" segment which includes electronic materials used in semiconductors, the company said in a February earnings statement.
After Ajinomoto posted its earnings on February 5, the company's stock rose 13%. Its shares are up more than 56% over the past year.
Not all non-tech companies are benefiting equally from the AI boom. Daikin, best known globally for its air conditioners, supplies high-purity chemical materials used in semiconductor manufacturing. It recently trimmed its outlook, citing uncertainty over US tariffs as a drag on demand.
The Japanese air conditioning maker reduced its operating profit forecast by about 5% to 413 billion Japanese yen, or $2.6 billion, for the fiscal year ending in March.
"Operating profit was significantly affected by the decline in semiconductor demand, decreasing by 44.6% year over year to ¥18,102 million," the company said in its financial report in February.
"Net sales of fluoropolymers fell year over year, despite focused Group efforts to capture strong new demand in the data center field, and was due to the stagnation in the construction markets of the United States and China and the significant overall impact of delays in the recovery of semiconductor demand," it added.
The company said it plans to cushion the blow through price increases and cost reductions.
Daikin's stock dropped as much as 8.4% in Tokyo following its financial results.
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