SoftBank Group Corp. announced a substantial profit for its fiscal first quarter, largely due to an $8.5 billion valuation gain from its investment in Intel Corp. The Japanese technology conglomerate reported a quarterly profit of 421.8 billion yen ($2.87 billion), significantly surpassing the 127.6 billion yen expected by analysts. This marks SoftBank's second consecutive profitable quarter, a turnaround from a 174.28 billion yen loss in the same period last year.
The Intel investment, where SoftBank agreed to purchase $2 billion worth of stock at $23 a share in August 2025, has proven highly lucrative. Intel's shares surged over 5% in after-hours trading following the announcement of SoftBank's investment. This gain highlights SoftBank's strategy of investing in key technology companies, adding Intel to its portfolio which already includes AI leaders like Nvidia Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
The company's Vision Fund, a key investment arm, also saw a robust performance, with its value increasing by $4.8 billion in the fiscal first quarter. This is the largest gain for the Vision Fund since June 2021, and its segment profit reached 451.4 billion yen. SoftBank has also been actively investing in the AI sector, leading a $40 billion funding round for OpenAI, with an initial $10 billion already deployed. Additionally, SoftBank sold 13 million shares of T-Mobile in August for $3 billion, further contributing to its financial performance.
