SoftBank Books $3.6 Billion Profit On Arm, ByteDance Gains While AI Bets Face Trade Policy Hurdles

Japanese investment holding company SoftBank Group Corp SFTBF SFTBY reported fourth-quarter results on Tuesday. The company reported quarterly net sales of 1.94 trillion yen ($12.69 billion), up from 1.75 trillion yen a year ago.

SoftBank segment net sales grew 10.2% to 1.73 trillion yen ($11.33 billion). 

Arm Holdings ARM net sales rose 38.3% to 189.81 billion yen ($1.24 billion).

The income before tax for the company was 433.79 billion yen. The net income was 545.42 billion yen (or $3.57 billion) compared to a profit of 328.9 billion yen a year ago.

Also Read: OpenAI And SoftBank’s Stargate Considers Major UK Investment To Fuel AI Growth

The gain on investments was 1.53 trillion yen (or $10.01 billion). Vision Fund investments reported a 177.26 billion yen profit (or $1.16 billion), compared to a loss of (57.53) billion yen a year ago. The segment reported a 26.07 billion yen profit (or $0.17 billion) versus a loss of (96.74) billion yen backed by  rise in the value of TikTok owner ByteDance, CNBC reported on Tuesday.

SoftBank reported a segment income of 142.32 billion yen (or $0.93 billion) versus 123.55 billion yen a year ago. Arm’s segment income is 30.44 billion yen (or $0.2 billion) compared to a loss of (16.77) billion yen a year ago.

The Board resolved to propose a fiscal dividend per share of 22 yen at the annual general meeting on June 27. The annual dividend per share for the fiscal year, including the interim dividend, will be 44 yen, the same as the previous fiscal year. 

In January, the Trump Administration announced an AI infrastructure joint venture in the U.S. dubbed “Stargate,” comprising  OpenAI, SoftBank Group, Oracle Corp ORCL, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX. The venture will deploy $100 billion initially and up to $500 billion over the next four years.

SoftBank invested $30 billion in OpenAI under a broader $40 billion financing round in March that valued the startup at $300 billion. Reports indicated SoftBank weighing an investment of $15 billion-$25 billion in OpenAI, making it the largest investor in the ChatGPT creator.

However, President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policies have slowed down SoftBank’s plans to invest $100 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the U.S., Bloomberg reported on Monday. The tariff policies have triggered concerns over higher capital costs, with lenders and debt investors dumping high-risk bets and fears about potential global recession taking a toll on data center demand.

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