SoftBank Group Hits Its Highest Quarterly Performance, Exceeding $16.6bn

In the second quarter of 2025, SoftBank Group‘s net profit more than doubled to ¥2.5 trillion ($16.6 billion), marking its best quarterly performance ever.

The high valuations of OpenAI and other Vision Fund assets served as the catalyst for this. The amount represents a turnaround for the Japanese conglomerate and its most profitable quarter to date, significantly exceeding analysts’ projections of ¥207 billion, banking and finance news desk.

The outcome shows how Masayoshi Son’s emphasis on AI is supporting SoftBank’s expansion and increasing exposure to an industry that many investors now worry might be about to burst. OpenAI alone contributed ¥2.16 trillion to the company’s Vision Fund unit’s record investment gain of ¥3.5 trillion for the quarter.

This growth was fueled by a spike in AI-related valuations and a rally in global technology stocks, which propelled SoftBank’s stock to all-time highs. The Vision Fund recovered from the losses that previously defined its history with its third consecutive profitable quarter. Son’s belief that artificial intelligence is the next big thing in economics is reaffirmed by SoftBank’s aggressive push into the field.

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The team spearheaded a $40 billion fundraising round in March, which valued OpenAI at $300 billion. By October, it joined a consortium of investors acquiring $6.6 billion worth of OpenAI employee shares, at an even higher $500 billion valuation. These projects are being funded by a complex combination of bonds, loans, and asset sales. In addition to issuing bonds in yen, dollars, and euros worth more than ¥620 billion, $2.2 billion, and €1.7 billion, respectively, since April, the company raised $5.83 billion in October by selling 32.1 million Nvidia shares. Additionally, it obtained a $6.5 billion facility for its intended acquisition of semiconductor company Ampere and an $8.5 billion bridge loan to finance its OpenAI investment.

According to Son, who spoke on this phase of the company, he said since the introduction of its Vision Fund vehicles in 2017 and 2019, this has been the “Most ambitious investment period.” He has a long history of making bold, well-timed investments in game-changing technologies. His initial investment in Alibaba became legendary, but not all of his endeavours, including WeWork, were successful.

Analysts caution of a possible “AI bubble,” despite SoftBank’s record profit, as exorbitant valuations run the risk of surpassing actual profitability.