SoftBank Group (SFTBY) Stock Gains 2.4% After Record Q3 Earnings Beat

TLDR

• SoftBank Group posted $1.6 billion Q3 profit, reversing a 369 billion yen loss from the prior year quarter
• The company’s $30 billion OpenAI investment generated a $2.4 billion gain during the three-month period
• SoftBank sold Nvidia and T-Mobile stakes worth $18.5 billion combined to finance deeper AI investments
• Loan-to-value ratio climbed to 20.6% as the company increased borrowing against Arm and SoftBank Corp shares
• Tokyo-listed shares gained 2.4% following the earnings announcement

SoftBank Group delivered record quarterly profit for the October-December 2025 period. The Japanese conglomerate reported net income of $1.6 billion.

That marked a dramatic reversal from the 369 billion yen loss posted in the same quarter a year earlier. Shares rose 2.4% on the Tokyo exchange after the results.

The Vision Fund’s OpenAI investment drove the strong performance. The fund recorded a $2.4 billion gain on its ChatGPT-maker stake during the quarter.

SoftBank Group Corp., SFTBY

Founder Masayoshi Son has invested over $30 billion in OpenAI. The company now holds approximately an 11% ownership position.

SoftBank anticipates total investment gains of $19.8 billion on OpenAI through December. Over nine months, the company has booked cumulative gains of 2.8 trillion yen on the AI firm.

Asset Sales Finance OpenAI Expansion

SoftBank liquidated its entire Nvidia position for $5.8 billion between June and December. The company also sold part of its T-Mobile stake for $12.7 billion during the same window.

These strategic exits raised eyebrows among investors. The proceeds are being redirected into OpenAI investments.

The conglomerate expanded its margin loan backed by Arm Holdings shares to $20 billion. That’s up from $13.5 billion previously.

SoftBank also increased borrowing capacity against SoftBank Corp shares to 1.2 trillion yen from 800 billion yen. The company’s loan-to-value ratio jumped to 20.6% from 16.5% three months prior.

Cash holdings fell to 3.8 trillion yen during the quarter. The declining liquidity has sparked questions about financial sustainability.

Growing Exposure Creates Proxy Effect

The heavy OpenAI concentration means SoftBank increasingly functions as a public market proxy for the private AI company. Investors are closely monitoring the conglomerate’s balance sheet health.

The OpenAI stake resides within Vision Fund 2. Son directly owns 17% of this investment vehicle.

Other Vision Fund holdings posted losses during the quarter. E-commerce platform Coupang and Chinese ride-hailing service Didi both declined in value.

The fund’s ByteDance investment also weakened. These losses were overwhelmed by OpenAI gains.

OpenAI is reportedly pursuing another $100 billion funding round at an $830 billion valuation. SoftBank is expected to participate alongside Amazon and Nvidia.

Microsoft holds the largest OpenAI stake at roughly 28%. That position is valued between $135 billion and $140 billion based on a $500 billion late-2025 valuation.

Fourth Consecutive Profitable Quarter

The quarterly results represented SoftBank’s fourth straight profit. Analyst estimates had varied widely, ranging from a $7.07 billion gain to a $3.09 billion loss.

OpenAI is preparing for a potential initial public offering. The listing could rank among the largest ever executed.

Son’s all-in strategy on OpenAI reflects his conviction the company will dominate the large language model space. Competition is intensifying from rivals including Alphabet.

The conglomerate has used its full remaining borrowing capacity under the Arm-backed credit facility. SoftBank reported the quarterly profit Thursday morning in Tokyo.

The post SoftBank Group (SFTBY) Stock Gains 2.4% After Record Q3 Earnings Beat appeared first on Blockonomi.