TLDR
- SoftBank posted a Q4 net profit of $11.6 billion, more than tripling from a year ago
- The gain was driven by a $45 billion cumulative increase in the value of its OpenAI investment
- OpenAI’s value in SoftBank’s portfolio stood at $79.6 billion as of end-March
- SoftBank has invested $34.6 billion in OpenAI and is committed to over $60 billion total
- S&P revised SoftBank’s outlook to “negative” over concerns about debt and portfolio concentration
SoftBank Group reported a net profit of 1.83 trillion yen, or $11.6 billion, for the three months ending March 31, 2026. That is more than three times the 517 billion yen profit it posted in the same period last year.
SOFTBANK IS MARKING UP OPENAI WHILE BORROWING MORE TO BUY OPENAI
SoftBank reported ¥1.83T, or about $11.6B, in fiscal Q4 net income. Analysts expected just ¥295.2B.
Bloomberg Intelligence said the quarter’s profit was entirely attributable to $25B in valuation gains on OpenAI.… pic.twitter.com/AoaiZuZgps
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) May 13, 2026
The result came in well above analyst estimates of 295.2 billion yen, according to Bloomberg data.
The jump was largely driven by a 3.043 trillion yen gain on investments during the quarter. Most of that came from SoftBank’s Vision Fund, its flagship investment vehicle.
The biggest contributor was OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. SoftBank’s stake in OpenAI was valued at $79.6 billion as of end-March, representing a $45 billion cumulative gain on its investment.
SoftBank has invested $34.6 billion in OpenAI so far. The company has committed to invest more than $60 billion in total, which would give it roughly 13% ownership of the AI startup.
In February, OpenAI raised funds at a valuation of $890 billion. In March, it closed another round co-led by SoftBank at a valuation of $852 billion.
The Vision Fund posted a gain of around $20 billion in the January-March quarter alone, almost entirely from OpenAI.
Heavy Losses Outside OpenAI
Not all of SoftBank’s bets paid off. The company posted losses on several other holdings, including Coupang, DiDi Global, and Klarna.
Excluding the Vision Fund, and after factoring in exchange rates and expenses, SoftBank posted an investment income loss of 472.1 billion yen for the full year.
Finance costs in Q4 rose to 229.4 billion yen, up from 148.9 billion yen a year earlier, reflecting higher debt taken on to fund AI investments.
SoftBank still has $17.5 billion outstanding on a $40 billion bridge loan used to fund its OpenAI position.
Debt Concerns Grow
To fund its OpenAI bet, SoftBank has been selling stakes in other companies. It sold holdings in Nvidia and T-Mobile, earning 218.1 billion yen from those transactions during the financial year.
S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on SoftBank from “stable” to “negative” in March. The agency said SoftBank’s asset quality and financial capacity were likely to deteriorate because of its large OpenAI commitment.
S&P said SoftBank could reduce the impact by selling more assets.
For the full fiscal year, SoftBank posted a net profit of 5 trillion yen. The Vision Fund and its telecom division were the main drivers.
CEO Masayoshi Son has made AI the core of SoftBank’s strategy. OpenAI faces competition from rivals including Google and Anthropic.
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