SoftBank quarterly profit falls 18% despite $8.2 billion gain from Intel investment

Aug 5, 2026

SoftBank Group reported a net profit of 347.3 billion yen ($2.2 billion) for its fiscal first quarter ending June 2026, beating analyst expectations despite an 18% year-on-year decline. Profits were supported by a massive 1.3 trillion yen ($8.2 billion) gain on its Intel stake and a $2.2 billion valuation increase for ByteDance. However, rising R&D costs led to a wider 200.8 billion yen loss in its AI computing segment, while its massive OpenAI valuation remained unchanged, fueling investor scrutiny and a 4% drop in SoftBank's share price.

SoftBank Q1 profit decline

▪SoftBank Group reported a net profit of 347.3 billion Japanese yen ($2.2 billion) for its fiscal first quarter ending June 2026, representing an 18% year-on-year decline.
▪SoftBank Group's fiscal first-quarter net profit of 347.3 billion yen beat the 120.23 billion yen expected by analysts according to LSEG estimates.
▪SoftBank Group's quarterly sales rose nearly 11% year-on-year to 2 trillion yen ($12.7 billion) during the April-June 2026 period.

Intel investment gains

▪SoftBank Group's investment division, which is separate from the Vision Fund, booked a segment profit of 1.05 trillion yen, aided by its Intel investment.
▪SoftBank Group recorded a 1.3 trillion yen ($8.2 billion) gain on its shares of U.S. chipmaker Intel during the fiscal first quarter ending June 2026.

ByteDance valuation increase

▪SoftBank Group's Vision Funds segment posted a 5.4 billion yen profit for the fiscal first quarter ending June 2026, down from 451.4 billion yen a year ago.
▪SoftBank Group's Vision Funds recorded a $1.7 billion gain in value in the first quarter, driven primarily by a $2.2 billion increase in the valuation of Chinese firm ByteDance.

OpenAI valuation unchanged

▪SoftBank Group has committed to invest more than $60 billion in OpenAI, with $55 billion already invested as of February 2026, representing around 13% ownership.
▪SoftBank Group recorded no investment gain or loss related to its holding in OpenAI during the fiscal first quarter ending June 2026.

Share price pressure

▪SoftBank Group's share price has fallen approximately 34% from its record high in June 2026 due to investor concerns over funding its bets and concentration in Arm and OpenAI.
▪SoftBank Group shares finished 4% lower in Tokyo trading on August 6, 2026, following the release of its fiscal first-quarter earnings report.

AI spending scrutiny

▪SoftBank Group posted a 200.8 billion yen loss at its AI computing segment, which includes chip companies Arm, Graphcore, and Ampere, due to higher research and development costs.
▪SoftBank Group CFO Yoshimitsu Goto defended the company's AI investments, stating that OpenAI retained an overwhelming first-mover advantage among consumers.