SoftBank turns around in FY25: Clocks $7.4 Bn profit, bets big on AI and chips

SoftBank Group has posted a net profit of $7.4 billion in FY25, marking a sharp reversal from a loss of $1.4 billion in the previous year. The turnaround follows a robust investment rebound and aggressive bets on artificial intelligence and semiconductor plays.

The Japanese conglomerate’s revenue rose 7.2% year-on-year to $45.97 billion, while income before tax jumped to $10.8 billion from just $367.5 million last year. SoftBank attributed the gain to a $23.5 billion investment profit from holdings in Alibaba, T-Mobile, and Deutsche Telekom.

Its investment business, led by founder Masayoshi Son, recorded ¥3.41 trillion ($21.7 billion) in gains. This included ¥1.88 trillion ($11.94 billion) from Alibaba and ¥1.35 trillion ($8.58 billion)  from T-Mobile. However, these were partially offset by a ¥2.03 trillion derivative loss, largely due to prepaid forward contracts using Alibaba shares.

The performance of the Vision Fund segment remained mixed. While Vision Fund 1 clocked a ¥940 billion gain ($5.97 billion), Vision Fund 2 posted a loss of ¥526 billion ($3.34 billion). The group also incurred a ¥491.8 billion ($3.17 billion) charge related to third-party investor interests in the Vision Funds.

A large part of Vision Fund 2’s losses came from a drop in the value of companies like Ola and Swiggy, which saw their stock prices and valuations fall. SoftBank said the value of its publicly listed investments under Vision Fund 2 fell by 21.7% in the last quarter.

Meanwhile, SoftBank is doubling down its investment in AI infrastructure. It has committed up to $30 billion to OpenAI Global and is acquiring US-based chipmaker Ampere for $6.5 billion. The group also launched the “Stargate” project — a $500 billion initiative to build large-scale AI data centers.

Despite the return to profitability, SoftBank flagged macro uncertainties including FX volatility, regulatory risks, and performance variance in its private market bets. The company will propose a year-end dividend of ¥22 ($0.14) per share, taking the full-year payout to ¥44 ($0.28), unchanged from last year.