Toilet Maker Toto's Shares Get Unlikely Boost From AI Rush (yahoo.com)
- Reference: 0180645076
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/23/1855256/toilet-maker-totos-shares-get-unlikely-boost-from-ai-rush
- Source link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/toilet-maker-toto-shares-unlikely-055450977.html
> Shares of Japanese toilet maker Toto [1]gained the most in five years after booming memory demand excited expectations of growth in its little-known chipmaking materials operations. The stock surged as much as 11%, its steepest rise since February 2021, after Goldman Sachs analysts said Toto's electrostatic chucks used in NAND chipmaking will likely benefit from an AI infrastructure buildout that's tightening supplies of both high-end and commodity memory.
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> [...] Known for its heated toilet seats, the maker of washlets has for decades been part of the semiconductor and display supply chain via its advanced ceramic parts and films. Its electrostatic chucks -- which it began mass producing in 1988 -- are used to hold silicon wafers in place during chipmaking while helping to control temperature and contamination, according to the company. The company's new domain business accounted for 42% of its total operating income in the fiscal year ended March 2025, Bloomberg-compiled data show.
[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/toilet-maker-toto-shares-unlikely-055450977.html
Diversification (Score:3)
Oh ok, so a Japanese toilet company also happens to make tools necessary for semiconductor production. I guess that's why these 100-year-old Japanese companies still exist. They're good at diversification.
> Electrostatic chucks ("e-chucks") provide the necessary stability and uniform clamping force to ensure accurate alignment and deposition of thin-film layers on glass substrates. With e-chucks, semiconductor manufacturers have a much easier time achieving their desired level of precision and uniformity.
Welp! (Score:2)
I guess the stocks are no longer in the toilet(s).
"Known for its heated toilet seats" (Score:3)
Aside from TV show jokes about [1]overly complicated Japanese toilets [youtube.com], I've literally never encountered a heated toilet seat actually in use anywhere in the US. Heated car seats - yes, toilet - no.
Most homes here tend to have some sort of central heat (which I've heard is still relatively uncommon in Japan, they tend to use space heaters to heat individual rooms separately), which mostly limits the ass freezing experience of winter toilet use. And if you do have a bathroom that stays particularly cold, those "handy heater" mini ceramic space heaters that hang directly from an outlet tend to do the trick nicely (with the added benefit of warming the entire bathroom, not just the toilet seat, so you're not stepping out of the shower into a freezing room).
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE0sddhCIdE
Re: (Score:2)
> Aside from TV show jokes about [1]overly complicated Japanese toilets [youtube.com], I've literally never encountered a heated toilet seat actually in use anywhere in the US. Heated car seats - yes, toilet - no.
I bought a bidet during the Great Toilet Paper Famine of 2020. It's more than a basic unit so it needs an electric outlet (for unlimited warm water), so you might as well have a heated seat at that point (and night lighting, both of which are welcome additions). There are probably more of them out there than you think, people just don't tend to talk much about toilets.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE0sddhCIdE
Re: (Score:2)
Many hotel bathrooms of the past had an infrared spotlight aimed at the toilet. The wall switch was a loudly clicking timer. You could turn it on a few minutes before going in (lift the lid) and have a nicely heated seat. I kinda miss them.
Re: (Score:2)
Dunno about today, but my father made one for a job he did as an electrician in Nebraska in the 50s. You see, winter weather in Nebraska is sub-zero, and it was an outhouse (built from brick, with a flush toilet, but dammit! the shitter belongs 50 feet down the path from the house - the rancher was . . . a bit eccentric).
So he bought the cheapest hollow toilet seat he could find, and lined it with (incandescent) Christmas tree lights. Worked like a charm, and provided a bit of light on the long, cold winter
"advanced ceramic parts" (Score:1)
"advanced ceramic parts" - for the toilets or the electronics?
Asking for a friend.
Can't wait (Score:2)
I guess the AI toilet will recognize my ass and adapt automatically to my preferred water temperature and pressure in the future.
Re: (Score:2)
I think you mean an AI bidet. At least, I hope you do.
Re: (Score:2)
The AI toilets for sale do a chemical analysis for your poop to warn of you health problems.
they make good toilets (Score:2)
I've had to replace many toilets over the years. In my wife's bathroom she wanted the colors to match & the only matching toilet I could get locally was a Toto. The very best (& most expensive) toilet I've installed. It's super quiet & has had no problems.
The American Standard had Fluidmaster (the king of flush!) flush & fill valves & both had to be replaced in the first year. Pain in the ass but American Standard had excellent CS.
I got no clue what this has to do with chips or AI
I guess (Score:3)
they're flush with cash.
Re: (Score:2)
They bless the drains!
Obligatory citation if you read Japanese (Score:2)
Leaving it here as a continuation of the attempted jokes, but resorting to (detested) Romaji (since Slashdot.jp with Japanese support is long gone), I have to cite Toire No Himitsu (The Secrets of Toilets) about the development of the washlet. That is Volume 22 in the Gakken Manga De Yoku Wakaru Shiri-zu (Understand deeply via manga from school research (the publisher)). Each volume in the series has a corporate sponsor and almost all of them include some corporate history, but I'm pretty sure that Volume 2