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

Anusuya Lahiri

Tue, May 13, 2025, 12:31 PM 3 min read

Japanese concern holding company SoftBank Group Corp (OTC:SFTBF) (OTC:SFTBY) reported fourth-quarter results connected Tuesday. The institution reported quarterly nett income of 1.94 trillion yen ($12.69 billion), up from 1.75 trillion yen a twelvemonth ago.

SoftBank conception net income grew 10.2% to 1.73 trillion yen ($11.33 billion).

Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) nett income roseate 38.3% to 189.81 cardinal yen ($1.24 billion).

The income earlier taxation for the institution was 433.79 cardinal yen. The nett income was 545.42 cardinal yen (or $3.57 billion) compared to a nett of 328.9 cardinal yen a twelvemonth ago.

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

The summation connected investments was 1.53 trillion yen (or $10.01 billion). Vision Fund investments reported a 177.26 cardinal yen nett (or $1.16 billion), compared to a nonaccomplishment of (57.53) cardinal yen a twelvemonth ago. The conception reported a 26.07 cardinal yen nett (or $0.17 billion) versus a nonaccomplishment of (96.74) cardinal yen backed by  rise successful the worth of TikTok proprietor ByteDance, CNBC reported connected Tuesday.

SoftBank reported a conception income of 142.32 cardinal yen (or $0.93 billion) versus 123.55 cardinal yen a twelvemonth ago. Arm’s conception income is 30.44 cardinal yen (or $0.2 billion) compared to a nonaccomplishment of (16.77) cardinal yen a twelvemonth ago.

The Board resolved to suggest a fiscal dividend per stock of 22 yen astatine the yearly wide gathering connected June 27. The yearly dividend per stock for the fiscal year, including the interim dividend, volition beryllium 44 yen, the aforesaid arsenic the erstwhile fiscal year.

In January, the Trump Administration announced an AI infrastructure associated venture in the U.S. dubbed “Stargate,” comprising  OpenAI, SoftBank Group, Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL), and Abu Dhabi’s MGX. The task volition deploy $100 cardinal initially and up to $500 cardinal over the adjacent 4 years.

SoftBank invested $30 cardinal successful OpenAI nether a broader $40 cardinal financing circular successful March that valued the startup astatine $300 billion. Reports indicated SoftBank weighing an investment of $15 billion-$25 cardinal in OpenAI, making it the largest capitalist successful the ChatGPT creator.

However, President Donald Trump’s assertive commercialized policies have slowed down SoftBank’s plans to put $100 cardinal successful artificial quality infrastructure successful the U.S., Bloomberg reported connected Monday. The tariff policies person triggered concerns implicit higher superior costs, with lenders and indebtedness investors dumping high-risk bets and fears astir imaginable planetary recession taking a toll connected information halfway demand.