- SoftBank posted an investment gain from its Vision Fund in the second fiscal quarter, but posted another quarterly loss.
- The company said the Vision Fund’s gain was due to a gain from the sale of shares in chipmaker Arm to an affiliate of SoftBank.
- This offset a loss in the value of companies in which SoftBank is invested, such as Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime.
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is pictured here in 2019 during an earnings presentation.
Tomohiro Ohsumi | Getty Images
SoftBank posted an investment gain from its Vision Fund in the second fiscal quarter, but posted another quarterly loss.
Here’s how SoftBank performed in the September quarter compared to LSEG estimates:
- Net sales: 1.67 trillion Japanese yen ($11 billion) versus 1.6 trillion yen expected
- Net loss: 931.1 billion yen ($6.2 billion) versus an expected loss of 114.1 billion yen
For the first half of the fiscal year, SoftBank reported a loss of 1.41 trillion ($9.3 billion). This compares to a profit of 3 trillion yen in the same period last year. SoftBank said a weaker yen hit the company because it has many U.S. dollar-denominated liabilities.
SoftBank’s Vision Fund posted an investment gain of 21.3 billion yen, its second straight quarter of gains. The company said this was due to a gain from the sale of chip designer Arm’s shares to a subsidiary of SoftBank.
This offset a loss in the value of companies in which SoftBank invests, such as Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime.
SoftBank’s flagship technology investment arm had a tough time in the fiscal year that ended in March this year, posting a record loss of about $32 billion. A plunge in technology stock prices and the failure of some of SoftBank’s bets in China were to blame.
In the June quarter, the Vision Fund recorded its first investment gain in five consecutive quarters, signaling early signs of growth. This coincided with a recovery in technology stock prices.
Last year, SoftBank’s well-known founder Masayoshi Son said the company would go into “defense mode,” slowing the pace of its investments and taking a more cautious approach. In June, Son announced a shift into “attack mode” and expressed excitement about the potential of artificial intelligence technology.
Chip designer Arm went public in the US in SoftBank’s second quarter. The company acquired Arm in 2016 for around $32 billion at the time. Arm’s IPO valued the company at over $50 billion.
Arm reported its first results since its IPO on Wednesday, reporting an annual increase in revenue for the September quarter. However, the semiconductor company issued forecasts for the December quarter that disappointed investors and sent its shares lower in after-hours trading in the US
Correction: The headline of this article has been updated to reflect a quarterly loss of $6.2 billion.