SoftBank Group Corp.

For Q1 FY2025, SoftBank Group reported income before income tax of JPY 689 billion and net income of JPY 421.8 billion, an improvement of JPY 569.1 billion year over year. NAV reached JPY 32.4 trillion, loan-to-value improved to 17.0%, and the NAV discount narrowed to 39.8% (from 57% in Q1 last year). Vision Fund recorded a gain on investment of $5 billion, and the quarter included 2 IPOs, Chime and eToro. Arm’s royalty revenue grew 25% year over year, while adjusted operating income was slightly lower due to higher R&D spending. For Q2, Arm guided to JPY 1 billion to JPY 1.1 billion in revenue, implying about 25% year-over-year growth at the midpoint, and said adjusted operating expenses will stay elevated because of continued R&D investment.

Goto framed the quarter as evidence that SoftBank’s long-running AI strategy is starting to pay off, repeatedly emphasizing Arm and OpenAI as the company’s “dual engines” for NAV growth. He said the company is focused on becoming a core platform for the AI/ASI era and pointed to the record share price, rising NAV, and narrowing discount as signs the market is recognizing that direction. His tone was confident and long-term oriented, but he also stressed that projects like Stargate will take time and need careful execution.

Goto highlighted a stronger balance sheet alongside the earnings rebound: NAV of JPY 32.4 trillion, loan-to-value at 17.0%, and cash on hand at about JPY 3.7 trillion. He said the company’s financial policy remains unchanged, keeping loan-to-value below 25% in normal times and holding at least two years of bond redemptions in cash. He also noted substantial monetization activity, including $7.8 billion from T-Mobile share sales and EUR 1.2 billion from early unwind of Deutsche Telekom-related monetization, and said the company completed its buyback program with 42.03 million shares repurchased for about JPY 330 billion versus the original JPY 500 billion authorization. On investment activity, he said the quarter included about $7.5 billion for OpenAI within total investments of $8.4 billion.

Analysts focused on how SoftBank will fund future AI bets, especially whether investments will come from the balance sheet or Vision Fund 2, and management said the vehicle will depend on the opportunity and expected exit path, with no decision yet for the second OpenAI tranche. Questions on Stargate centered on the pace of progress, site selection, and possible geopolitical/tariff effects; Goto said the project is slower than hoped mainly because site selection and stakeholder coordination are taking time, but the overall plan has not changed and he does not see the semiconductor tariff issue as a reason to worry materially. Analysts also asked about Ampere’s acquisition timing, and Goto said closing is still expected in the latter half of the fiscal year. On Vision Fund 2 performance, management pointed to a stronger IPO pipeline and AI-disruption beneficiaries such as PayPay, Klarna, JAKA Robots, Meesho, and Lenskart.