SoftBank Q1 profit ¥347.3 billion beats estimates amid chip gains
Business
SoftBank just posted a Q1 profit of ¥347.3 billion ($2.2 billion), down 18% from last year, but way above what analysts expected.
The big win? Gains from chip maker stocks, which surged in value and helped compensate for muted gains in the value of OpenAI and some losses in SoftBank's Vision Fund.
SoftBank OpenAI stake nearly $65bn
SoftBank is doubling down on AI, with its OpenAI stake reported to be nearly $65 billion by October.
To fund these moves, it took out big loans backed by its Arm Holdings shares.
But with delays in OpenAI's IPO and struggles for some AI companies, SoftBank's own share price has been pretty up-and-down lately, especially after a drop in the share price of newly debuted SoftBank payments app PayPay Corp.