TLDR
- SoftBank Group posted second-quarter net profit of 2.5 trillion yen ($16.6 billion), more than double the prior year period.
- Vision Fund generated 3.5 trillion yen in investment gains, with OpenAI holdings contributing 2.16 trillion yen.
- The company sold its complete Nvidia position for $5.83 billion to finance AI investments.
- OpenAI’s valuation increased from $300 billion in March to $500 billion by October 2025.
- SoftBank raised over $15 billion through bond issuances and bridge loans to support its AI strategy.
SoftBank Group delivered second-quarter net profit of 2.5 trillion yen ($16.6 billion) for the July-September period. The results represent the company’s strongest quarterly performance since 2022.
Analyst expectations fell far short of the actual numbers. Three analysts polled by LSEG had projected average net profit of 207 billion yen for the quarter.
The profit figure more than doubled the 1.18 trillion yen earned during the same period in 2024. SoftBank’s stock price has surged to record levels, prompting the company to announce a four-to-one stock split.
Vision Fund Powers Results
SoftBank’s Vision Fund unit recorded investment gains of 3.5 trillion yen for the quarter. OpenAI holdings accounted for 2.16 trillion yen of that total.
CEO Masayoshi Son has made OpenAI the centerpiece of SoftBank’s AI investment thesis. The strategy appears to be working as OpenAI’s valuation has climbed steadily throughout 2025.
In March, SoftBank agreed to lead a funding round of up to $40 billion in OpenAI at a $300 billion valuation. By October, sources reported SoftBank was part of a consortium acquiring $6.6 billion in OpenAI employee shares at a $500 billion valuation.
SoftBank’s total OpenAI investment is projected to reach $34.7 billion by December 2025. CFO Yoshimitsu Goto stated at a Tokyo briefing that the risk of not investing outweighs the risk of investing.
Strategic Asset Sales
SoftBank sold its entire Nvidia stake in October, including 32.1 million shares held by its asset management subsidiary. The sale generated $5.83 billion in proceeds.
The company has owned Nvidia shares multiple times over the years. It sold before the AI boom, repurchased shares, then exited again to concentrate on OpenAI.
SoftBank also divested part of its T-Mobile holdings for $9.17 billion. The sales are funding what the company describes as its most ambitious investment campaign since launching the Vision Fund vehicles in 2017 and 2019.
Funding the AI Push
Since April, SoftBank has issued bonds in three currencies totaling 620 billion yen, $2.2 billion, and 1.7 billion euros. The company arranged an $8.5 billion bridge loan for OpenAI investments.
Another $6.5 billion bridge loan was secured for the acquisition of semiconductor design firm Ampere. That facility remains undrawn.
Masayoshi Son has built a reputation for making leveraged technology bets with varied outcomes. His early Alibaba investment generated massive returns, while the WeWork investment failed spectacularly.
Some market observers have raised concerns about an AI bubble. The question is whether capital expenditures by major tech firms will produce profits justifying the investment levels.
SoftBank shares have nearly quadrupled over the past six months during the broader technology stock rally.
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