After Daifuku's 1,200% stock surge, departing Japan chip CEO aims for more

Masaki Hojo, who built Daifuku Co. into the world's largest maker of machines for handling chip materials, is once again challenging market expectations even as he prepares to make his exit from the Japanese company. Daifuku is considering raising its earnings guidance for the medium term, according to Hojo, 69, who plans to step down as president at the end of next month. The need for more semiconductors in cars and robots, and consumers' growing appetite for e-commerce and big data can only mean more demand for Daifuku's machinery, he says, while China looms as a possible new market for expansion. Few outside of the chip industry will have heard of Daifuku, whose gear is found in cutting-edge Intel Corp. plants and helps Amazon.com The Osaka-based company also supplies baggage-handling systems for the world's biggest airports from Chicago's O'Hare to Beijing and London.