OpenAI Drive Fuels SoftBank’s Profit as Concentration Concerns Grow

SoftBank has posted a fourth straight quarter in the black, with the improvement largely propelled by its sizable stake in OpenAI, the ChatGPT creator. The group has become the single-largest shareholder in OpenAI, having invested around $34.6 billion, and the heavy focus on this one holding has sparked questions about its portfolio diversification.

Turning the corner after a loss phase

For the quarter spanning October through December, SoftBank reported a net income of 248.6 billion yen ($1.62 billion). The same period a year earlier had shown a loss of 369 billion yen. The results beat portions of analysts? expectations, which ranged from a profit of about 1.1 trillion yen to a loss of roughly 480 billion yen. The wide forecast spread underscores the difficulty of valuing SoftBank?s investment mix.

OpenAI as the earnings engine

The OpenAI stake was the primary driver of the quarterly performance. At year-end, SoftBank held roughly an 11% interest in the company, and the position carried an unrealized gain of $19.8 billion on an interim basis. The key figures:

• Net income (Q3): 248.6 billion yen ($1.62 billion)
• Investment gain from OpenAI: $19.8 billion
• Total investment in OpenAI: approximately $34.6 billion
• OpenAI ownership: about 11%
• Loan-to-Value ratio: 20.6%

Media reports indicate SoftBank is nearing the deployment of a further $30 billion into a funding round for OpenAI, which would value the company at roughly $750?$830 billion. Participants alongside SoftBank are said to include Amazon and Nvidia.

Aggressive financing to back AI push

To finance its aggressive AI expansion, SoftBank?s founder Masayoshi Son tapped several funding channels:

• From June to December 2025, the group sold portions of its T-Mobile stake for $12.7 billion.
• The margin loan, secured by Arm shares, rose from $13.5 billion to $20 billion.
• Loans against SoftBank Corp. (the telecom arm) holdings increased from @ boerse-global.de | JP3436100006 OPENAI