SoftBank profit beats forecasts on $8.8B Intel stake gain
What's the deal? SoftBankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → reported fiscal first-quarter net profit of 347.3 billion yen ($2.2 billion), beating the 120.23 billion yen analysts expected, according to LSEG. The result was driven by a 1.3 trillion yen gain on its stake in IntelDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The numbers: Despite the beat, profit fell nearly 18% year-on-year. SoftBank's investment division, which is separate from the Vision Fund, booked segment profit of 1.05 trillion yen, lifted largely by the US chipmaker's shares.
The context: SoftBank announced a roughly $2 billion investment in Intel in 2025. The Japanese group invests across chips, artificial intelligence, and consumer tech.
What about the Vision Funds? The division, which houses stakes in OpenAIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and TikTokDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →-owner ByteDance, gained $1.7 billion in value over the quarter. That was driven mainly by a $2.2 billion rise in the value of SoftBank's ByteDance stake, offsetting declines at companies such as PayPay.
The Vision Funds segment posted a 5.4 billion yen profit, down sharply from 451.4 billion yen in June 2025. SoftBank said it recorded no gain or loss from its OpenAI investment.
Why it matters: This contrasts with the quarter ended March 2026, when the Vision Funds posted a near-$20 billion gain almost entirely driven by OpenAI.
The signal: SoftBank's earnings increasingly swing on the fortunes of a handful of outsized bets. This quarter, chip and Chinese tech gains carried the result — a reminder of how much its performance hinges on the timing of individual positions rather than steady operating income.
Read more: Urall News
Image credit: jurvetson
