SoftBank profit beats forecasts on chip gains amid AI wait

SoftBank's quarterly results reveal a company navigating two competing forces in the technology sector. On one side, the company's bets on chipmakers are paying off—Intel's shares more than tripled in the quarter, generating the kind of dramatic gains that pushed net income well above what the market had forecast. On the other side, the company's portfolio of startup investments, particularly in AI services and infrastructure, has seen valuations soften. The net result is a 18% decline in net income, but one that is significantly smaller than the consensus estimate of ¥166 billion, demonstrating the portfolio's diversification at work. This balance is important because SoftBank's role as a major backer of OpenAI places it squarely in the middle of broader concerns about whether the extraordinary spending on AI infrastructure—hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers and equipment—will ultimately generate returns. The company appears to be hedging that bet by maintaining exposure to the semiconductor suppliers whose chips power the AI boom, even as it waits for further gains from its stake in one of the world's most valuable AI startups.