CANADA – 2025/08/07: In this photo illustration the SoftBank Group (Soft Bank) logo is displayed on the screen of a smartphone. (Photo illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Actions of SoftBank Group soared on Thursday as blockbuster profits from Nvidia Overnight, the artificial intelligence sector experienced strong momentum.
Shares of SoftBank Group, which had fallen for five consecutive sessions, closed up 19.85%, adding more than $35 billion to its market capitalization on Thursday.
The company’s fortunes are closely tied to the AI boom, through its stake in Arm Holdings, whose chip designs are used in AI servers and data centers powered by Nvidia systems, and its investments in OpenAI.
The Japanese giant has invested more than $30 billion in OpenAI, with investment gains in the company totaling $45 billion for the year ended in March.
SoftBank’s strong rally is driven by renewed optimism around a possible OpenAI listing, which has helped propel Arm Holdings shares higher, said Andrew Jackson, head of Japan equity strategy at Ortus Advisors.
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Softbank Group shares since the beginning of the year
Although markets largely anticipated these developments, Jackson told CNBC the scale of the move remained significant given SoftBank’s heavy exposure to AI-related assets. Arm Holdings closed up more than 15% during U.S. trading hours.
SoftBank Group last week recorded an annual gain of $46 billion for its Vision Fundlargely due to OpenAI’s growing valuation as founder Masayoshi Son doubles down on investments in artificial intelligence. SoftBank added that earnings related to OpenAI totaled about $45 billion in the fiscal year ended March.
Analysts at CreditSights, a unit of Fitch Ratings, last week reiterated an “outperform” recommendation on SoftBank Group’s debt, adding that a sharp rise in Arm Holdings’ shares had significantly strengthened the conglomerate’s balance sheet despite aggressive investments in artificial intelligence.
Asian semiconductor stocks tied to Nvidia’s supply chain as well as the broader technology sector also climbed Thursday.
Taiwan Stocks TSMC increased by more than 2%. Nvidia relies on TSMC strongly to manufacture its advanced AI processors. from Japan Renesas Electronicsa key supplier to Nvidia, closed up 8.2%.
Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electronwhich supplies essential chipmaking equipment to the foundries that make Nvidia’s chips, jumped 5.9%.
SK Hynix, a major supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips used by Nvidia, jumped 11.2%. Samsung Electronics added 8.5%, also gaining on news that the company and its South Korean union had reached a tentative pay deal, easing fears of a strike.
Shares of Japanese semiconductor test equipment maker Avantest increased by 4.4%.
Nvidia reported another blockbuster quarter overnight, with revenue rose 85% to $81.62 billion from $44.06 billion a year earlier. The tech giant also unveiled an $80 billion share buyback program and increased its dividend.
The company’s shares, however, were down in aftermarket trading, as CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC. Sarah Eisen that the company has “widely conceded” The Chinese market for artificial intelligence chips for Huawei.
—Arjun Kharpal of CNBC contributed to this report.