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SoftBank Quarterly Profit Soars to ¥421.8B; Son's Bet Pays Off as Shares Jump 13%

TradingKeyAug 8, 2025 8:09 AM

TradingKey - SoftBank Group has announced a substantial leap in performance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, reporting a net profit of 421.8 billion yen. This not only significantly exceeded the market's general expectation of 127.6 billion yen but also marked a strong turnaround from a loss of 174.28 billion yen in the same period last year. This is also SoftBank's second consecutive quarter in profit.

Fueled by this positive news, SoftBank's stock soared by as much as 13% on Friday following the earnings release, reaching an all-time high and marking its fourth consecutive trading day increase. The previous trading day had already set a new closing record.

softbank-stock-price

Source: CNBC

The resurgence of SoftBank Vision Fund and asset sales, including stakes in T-Mobile are enabling Masayoshi Son to double down on strategic bets.

Vision Fund recorded ¥451.39 billion in profit this quarter – a fundamental turnaround from last year’s loss position – with its portfolio value rising $4.8 billion, the largest quarterly increase since June 2021.

This growth primarily stems from rebounding global tech valuations and strong performances from portfolio companies, including South Korean e-commerce platform Coupang, German auto marketplace Auto1 Group, U.S. warehouse automation firm Symbotic, Singaporean ride-hailing platform Grab Holdings, and Indian food delivery giant Swiggy.

The company significantly increased its Nvidia stake to approximately $3 billion as of March (more than triple the previous quarter’s $1 billion holding), while acquiring $330 million in TSMC shares and $170 million in Oracle stock.

Nvidia’s shares surged 46% in the three months through June, while TSMC’s market capitalization surpassed $1 trillion. These rallies in AI infrastructure leaders generated massive unrealized gains for SoftBank.

Undoubtedly, Masayoshi Son – who gained fame through his early decisive bet on Alibaba – has successfully captured the latest surge in AI infrastructure leaders like Nvidia and TSMC, delivering enormous investment returns for SoftBank.

Currency gains also contributed to SoftBank’s profit, SMBC Nikko Securities analyst Satoru Kikuchi said in a note to investors. While AI optimism may continue to fuel Softbank’s shares, the end of the buyback program “may limit future upside” when the company announces asset sales to help fund its big AI bets, he said.

While actively investing in AI hardware, SoftBank is also diversifying its expansion across various fronts within the artificial intelligence sector.

SoftBank has partnered with OpenAI, Oracle, and Abu Dhabi's technology investment fund MGX to undertake a mega data center project called "Stargate," with a total scale of up to $500 billion in the United States.

Son Masayoshi is also lobbying major players in the chip supply chain, such as TSMC, to participate in building the largest-ever AI manufacturing center in Arizona, valued at $1 trillion.

At the same time, several companies within SoftBank's portfolio are expected to bring new investment returns and liquidity next season.

These companies are anticipated to launch IPO plans within this year. Among them, Indian eyewear retailer Lenskart has submitted an IPO application on July 29 for new shares worth ₹2.15 billion. Other upcoming public offerings include Japanese mobile payment service operator PayPay, Swedish financial services firm Klarna, and travel application Klook. The listings of these companies are expected to generate new investment returns and liquidity for SoftBank.

“Our longer-term outlook for SoftBank Group is cautiously optimistic, with a consensus toward continued business expansion,” said Ashwin Binwani, founder of Alpha Binwani Capital.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice.

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