Japan’s semiconductor toolmakers are booming

Corporate Japan, long snubbed by investors, has been the source of much attention lately. That is especially so for the country’s manufacturers of chipmaking tools. On February 13th Tokyo Electron’s share price jumped by 13% after it reported higher profits than expected for the final quarter of last year, pushing its market value above $100bn, roughly ten times what it was worth a decade ago. It is now Japan’s fourth-most-valuable company, trouncing better-known peers such as Mitsubishi, Nintendo and SoftBank Group.