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, which management said was a year-over-year improvement of JPY 569.1 billion. NAV reached JPY 32.4 trillion, with loan-to-value at 17.0%, and management said the NAV discount was 39.8% as of today. Vision Fund recorded gains on investments this quarter, and Arm’s revenue increased 25% year over year on royalty revenue growth, while adjusted operating income was slightly lower due to increased R&D investment. For guidance, Arm expects Q2 revenue of JPY 1 billion to JPY 1.1 billion, implying about 25% year-over-year growth at the midpoint, with adjusted operating expenses staying somewhat elevated because of ongoing R&D.

Goto framed the quarter as validation of SoftBank’s long-running AI strategy, saying the company is in the “fourth AI boom” and that Arm and OpenAI are the main growth engines. He emphasized that the company is focused on long-term NAV growth rather than short-term share-price swings, and highlighted SoftBank’s ambition to become a core ASI platform provider over the next 10 years. His tone was upbeat and confident, but he also acknowledged that major projects like Stargate will take time because site selection, technical work, and stakeholder alignment are complex.

Goto said cash on hand remained close to JPY 4 trillion, which he described as a safe level, and that loan-to-value stayed well below the company’s 25% policy limit. He also noted that SoftBank sold T-Mobile shares in June and August for total proceeds of $7.8 billion, and received EUR 1.2 billion in cash from early unwind transactions on Deutsche Telekom monetization. On capital returns, he said the company completed its share buyback program: the original JPY 500 billion authorization resulted in 42.03 million shares repurchased for about JPY 330 billion at an average price of JPY 7,800.

Analysts pressed on whether OpenAI and other investments would be funded through the Vision Fund or SoftBank’s balance sheet; management said the choice depends on whether an exit is expected and that the funding is fungible across SoftBank entities, with no final decision yet for the December tranche. Questions also focused on Stargate’s pace and international expansion; Goto said SoftBank is not involved in the Norway project, is focused on the U.S., and is proceeding more slowly than originally hoped because site selection and project design are taking time. On Vision Fund 2 performance, Navneet Govil pointed to a strong IPO pipeline, including PayPay, Klarna, JAKA Robots, Meesho, and Lenskart, and said AI-related investments are beginning to show value.