SoftBank’s OpenAI Bet Brings a Profit Lift as PayPay Goes Toward Nasdaq

SoftBank JP3436100006

SoftBank Group breached the red and moved back into the black with notable momentum in the latest quarter. For the third quarter, the Japanese tech conglomerate reported a net profit of 248.6 billion yen ($1.62 billion), reversing a loss of 369 billion yen in the year-ago period. The key driver behind the turn is Masayoshi Son’s bold OpenAI investment stance.

In parallel, SoftBank announced plans for PayPay to pursue a listing on the Nasdaq, with the registration documents already filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The quarterly results represent SoftBank’s fourth consecutive quarter of profitability, underscoring a decisive shift toward artificial intelligence-related investments. The OpenAI stake alone generated unrealized gains of $19.8 billion, measured against total OpenAI investments of about $34.6 billion. As of December 31, 2025, SoftBank owned roughly 11% of the ChatGPT developer.

There are signals of further expansion. According to Bloomberg, SoftBank is in talks to commit up to $30 billion more to OpenAI. If completed, the new financing round would value OpenAI at between $750 billion and $830 billion.

PayPay aims for Nasdaq listing

On February 13, SoftBank’s PayPay filed the Form F-1 with the SEC. The American Depositary Shares (ADS) are planned to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker “PAYP.”

The deal is being led by a consortium that includes Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Mizuho Securities, and Morgan Stanley. SoftBank has not disclosed details on the size, pricing, or timing of the offering. Separately, an application was submitted to the Kanto Local Finance Bureau for a public offering in Japan.

SoftBank emphasized that PayPay will remain a subsidiary after the listing and that the move is not expected to have material effects on the group’s consolidated balance sheet.

Higher leverage to back AI ambitions

To fund its aggressive AI investments, SoftBank has broadened its lines of credit. A Lombard loan secured against Arm shares was raised from $13.5 billion to $20 billion. In addition, lending against SoftBank Corp. stock saw its credit limit climb from 800 billion yen to 1.2 trillion yen.

The loan-to-value ratio rose to 20.6% at the end of December, up from 16.5% three months earlier. Cash reserves slipped to 3.8 trillion yen. Between June and December 2025, SoftBank disposed of portions of its T-Mobile stake for $12.7 billion.

The numbers at a glance

Metric	Value
Q3 net profit	248.6 billion yen (1.62 billion USD)
OpenAI stake (as of 12/31/2025)	~11%
Total investment in OpenAI	~34.6 billion USD
Unrealized OpenAI gains	19.8 billion USD
Loan-to-Value Ratio	20.6%
Cash reserves	3.8 trillion yen

SoftBank has clearly steered its strategy toward AI investments, with the OpenAI holding emerging as a potential cash generator. At the same time, the balance sheet shows higher leverage as the group funds its agenda. The long-term success of the wager will hinge on whether OpenAI’s valuation continues to rise or AI enthusiasm cools.