SoftBank Group Corp. SFTBY SFTBF shares surged 10.47% to JPY 13,875 ($94.11) on Friday on the Tokyo exchange following the company’s first quarter of 2026 earnings call, where executives highlighted massive gains from artificial intelligence investments while acknowledging delays in the ambitious Stargate data center project.
Vision Fund Recovery Drives Strong Quarter
The Japanese conglomerate reported net income of JPY 421.8 billion ($2.86 billion) for the first quarter, a dramatic JPY 569.1 billion improvement year-over-year. Vision Fund investments generated $5 billion in gains, driven by public portfolio companies including Korean e-commerce giant Coupang and warehouse automation firm Symbotic.
“The era is AI and our focus is definitely AI,” said CFO Yoshimitsu Goto during the earnings presentation. Net asset value climbed to JPY 32.4 trillion ($220 billion), while the loan-to-value ratio improved to 17%, well below the company’s 25% target.
OpenAI Partnership Shows Explosive Growth
SoftBank executives revealed OpenAI’s annual recurring revenue is expected to reach $12 billion, more than doubling from $5.5 billion in December 2024. The AI company’s weekly active users have grown from 500 million in March to an expected 700 million by August.
“OpenAI is not just an investee. For us, OpenAI is one of our most important partners in the AI revolution,” Goto said. SoftBank committed $40 billion to OpenAI, with $30 billion from the company and $10 billion syndicated to external investors.
Stargate Project Faces Implementation Challenges
Despite the OpenAI success, SoftBank’s $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project with OpenAI has encountered significant delays. Goto acknowledged the project is progressing “slower than usual,” citing complex site selection processes and stakeholder alignment issues.
“Once model is built, you can repeat the model,” Goto explained, emphasizing the importance of establishing a successful first facility. The project aims to deploy $500 billion over four years across multiple U.S. data centers.
Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly questioned the project’s financial viability, recently posting “They simply don’t” have the money on the social media platform X.
Market Outlook and Strategic Focus
The NAV discount narrowed to 39.8% from over 50% earlier this year, indicating growing investor confidence in the AI-focused strategy.
The company maintains strong liquidity with JPY 3.7 trillion ($25 billion) in cash reserves and completed a ¥330 billion ($2.24 billion) share buyback program.
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