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Softbank returns to profit with AI investments and strategic moves

Tuesday 13 May 2025 - 16:35
Softbank returns to profit with AI investments and strategic moves
By: Zahouani Ilham
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Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank has reported a net profit of $7.8 billion (1.15 trillion yen) for the fiscal year ending March 2025, marking a strong turnaround from a net loss of 227 billion yen in the previous year. This marks SoftBank’s first full-year profit since the 2020–2021 fiscal period.

SoftBank’s earnings tend to fluctuate significantly due to its aggressive investments in volatile tech startups and semiconductor companies. Under the leadership of its charismatic founder and CEO, Masayoshi Son, the firm has recently focused heavily on artificial intelligence. Son envisions the advent of “artificial superintelligence” within a decade, promising breakthroughs in innovation, medicine, and investment strategies.

Central to this vision is SoftBank’s leadership in the $500 billion Stargate project, a collaboration with Oracle and OpenAI to build AI infrastructure in the United States. However, Bloomberg News recently reported that US trade tariffs have created uncertainty, delaying financing discussions for the initiative.

Earlier this year, SoftBank and OpenAI also agreed to a $3 billion annual investment to integrate OpenAI’s technology across SoftBank’s portfolio. In March, the firm announced plans to acquire US semiconductor company Ampere for $6.5 billion, further cementing its AI ambitions. The deal is expected to close later this year.

SoftBank also holds a majority stake in Arm Holdings, whose chip architecture powers 99% of smartphones worldwide.

Analyst Hideki Yasuda of Toyo Securities predicted a strong performance ahead of the announcement, citing favorable market conditions from January to March. He noted that market sentiment only declined following the announcement of new US tariffs in late March.

While Son has made legendary investments in companies like Alibaba and Yahoo, he has also faced setbacks with ventures such as WeWork. Despite this, analysts say that SoftBank’s focus on the US was inevitable, given the country's dominant market role over the past two decades. Investments in China have diminished due to tighter regulatory controls in recent years.

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