Key Points
- SoftBank’s second-quarter net profit more than doubled to $16.2 billion, driven by the AI stock boom.
- The company sold $5.8 billion worth of its Nvidia shares last month. The surge in AI-related stocks has led to growing fears of a market bubble.
- SoftBank’s own stock is up over 140% in 2025, largely due to its investment in OpenAI.
- Founder Masayoshi Son is a strong believer in “artificial superintelligence” and is positioning SoftBank to be a major player in the field.
Japan’s SoftBank Group reported on Tuesday that its net profit more than doubled in the second quarter. The impressive results were driven by a boom in the stock prices of AI-related companies, which has also sparked fears of a market bubble.
The tech investment giant, a major backer of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, posted net profit of 2.5 trillion yen ($16.2 billion) for the July-September period. This is a significant jump from the 1.2 trillion yen it earned in the same period last year.
SoftBank also revealed that it sold $5.8 billion worth of its shares in the U.S. chip giant Nvidia last month, after the quarter had ended.
SoftBank’s earnings are known for their wild swings because the company invests heavily in tech startups and semiconductor firms, whose stocks can be very volatile. In recent months, excitement over AI’s potential has led to a flurry of multi-billion-dollar deals, driving tech shares globally to soar.
However, this has also fueled concerns about a market bubble that could eventually pop, similar to the dot-com bust at the turn of the millennium. Worries that AI stock valuations are too high triggered a market sell-off just last week.
SoftBank did not explain its reason for selling the Nvidia stock. However, Bloomberg News suggested it might be part of a plan by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son to increase his influence in the AI field. Son believes that “artificial superintelligence” is coming and will lead to a technological revolution.
SoftBank’s own stock has had a strong year, rising more than 140% so far in 2025. This surge is largely due to the excitement surrounding its investment in OpenAI. However, some analysts caution that OpenAI’s transition from a non-profit to a for-profit company remains unresolved, and it faces intense competition from rivals such as Google and Anthropic.
