Vision Fund weakness sees SoftBank report surprise Q3 loss
By Josh White
Date: Wednesday 12 Feb 2025
(Sharecast News) - SoftBank Group reported a surprise net loss of JPY 369.17bn (£1.93bn) for its third quarter on Wednesday, missing analyst expectations for a JPY 298.53bn profit.
The loss for the Japanese technology investment giant was driven by a decline in the value of its Vision Fund investments, which posted a JPY 352.75bn loss for the quarter ended 31 December.
Its overall revenue also fell short of expectations, coming in at JPY 1.83trn against the JPY 1.84trn projected by analysts.
The broader Vision Fund segment, which includes administrative expenses and currency fluctuations, reported a loss of JPY 309.93bn.
SoftBank's Vision Fund 1 saw a 2.8% drop in the fair value of its portfolio companies compared to the prior quarter, largely due to a decline in shares of e-commerce firm Coupang.
The value of its private company investments fell 3.3%.
Vision Fund 2 declined 3.7%, weighed down by falling stock prices of publicly listed companies, including Ola Electric Mobility and AutoStore, despite a boost from food delivery company Swiggy's market debut in November.
According to CNBC, SoftBank had faced challenges with its investment strategy in recent years, as several high-profile bets struggled or faced valuation markdowns.
The company was now shifting its focus toward artificial intelligence, and was reportedly close to finalising a $40bn investment in OpenAI at a $260bn valuation, which would make it the AI firm's largest investor, surpassing Microsoft.
It had already committed $3bn annually to OpenAI's technology, and recently launched a joint venture, SB OpenAI Japan, to market OpenAI's enterprise solutions in the Japanese market.
Shares in SoftBank Group Corporation closed up 3.79% in Tokyo at JPY 9,856.00, before the results were released after hours.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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