Tech & AI
SoftBank Swings to ¥1.12 Trillion Quarterly Loss as AI Data-Centre Costs Bite
The Japanese group's July-September loss compares with a ¥2.5 trillion profit a year earlier, and its shares swung sharply around the report.
HedgeWeekly Tech & AI Desk ·
SoftBank Group reported a net loss of about ¥1.12 trillion ($7.1 billion) for the July-September quarter, against a profit of ¥2.5 trillion a year earlier. Sales rose 16% to ¥2.2 trillion. The loss was far larger than analysts had expected, and the company pointed to investor worries over its artificial-intelligence bets, according to the Associated Press and Investing.com.
Investing.com reported that the figure includes a $3.7 billion loss on advance payments for equipment tied to US data-centre projects after those plans were revised. Financing costs more than doubled to ¥462 billion. SoftBank has put $64.6 billion into OpenAI for a roughly 13% stake, which links its results closely to the AI sector.
The shares jumped nearly 14% in Tokyo on Tuesday before the results came out, then fell as much as 10.5% to ¥3,465 on Wednesday and were last down 6.1% at ¥3,636. They have lost about a third of their value over the past year, the AP said.
Why it matters: SoftBank is one of the most leveraged public proxies for the AI build-out, so its numbers show how funding costs and revised project plans can hit even well-backed investors. With borrowing costs rising, investors will watch whether further data-centre commitments are re-cut, how OpenAI's valuation is carried, and how SoftBank funds its pledges.