SoftBank Group Corp. reported a record quarterly net income of $1.6 billion (248.6 billion yen) for the three months ending December 31, 2025, marking a sharp turnaround from a 369 billion yen loss in the same period a year prior. The profit was primarily driven by a $2.4 billion valuation gain on its massive investment in artificial intelligence leader OpenAI.
The Japanese conglomerate, through its Vision Fund 2, has invested over $30 billion in OpenAI, securing an approximate 11% stake in the ChatGPT maker. Over the first nine months of the fiscal year, cumulative gains from this investment reached 2.8 trillion yen, with an anticipated total investment gain of $19.8 billion by year-end. This windfall has helped offset losses in other portfolio holdings, such as Coupang, Didi, and ByteDance.
To fund its aggressive AI push, SoftBank executed significant asset sales, including divesting its entire Nvidia stake for $5.8 billion and part of its T-Mobile position for $12.7 billion. The company has also increased its leverage, expanding a margin loan backed by Arm Holdings shares to $20 billion and raising borrowing limits against its telecom shares. Consequently, its loan-to-value ratio climbed to 20.6% from 16.5% in the previous quarter, while its cash position decreased to 3.8 trillion yen.
Following the earnings release, SoftBank's shares climbed 2.4% on the Tokyo exchange, reflecting investor confidence in its long-term AI strategy. The company is positioning itself as a central player in global AI development, with its investments extending to infrastructure projects like the joint 'Stargate' venture with Oracle. Looking ahead, SoftBank is expected to participate in OpenAI's next potential funding round, which could value the AI firm at up to $830 billion.
