SoftBank (9985.TO) Returns to Profit Amid AI Investments

SoftBank Group Corp. (9985.TO) returned to profitability in Q4 2025, reporting a 248.6 billion yen ($1.62B) profit, a reversal from 369B yen in losses the prior year. Quarterly sales rose 8% to 1.98 trillion yen ($12.9B). The turnaround follows a $5.8B stake sale of Nvidia in October and significant investments in OpenAI (~$35B, ~11% stake), Ampere ($6.5B), and a pending $5.375B robotics acquisition from ABB. Nine months through December saw a 3.17 trillion yen ($20.7B) profit, about five times the prior-year amount, with sales up nearly 8% to 5.7 trillion yen ($37B). CFO Yoshimitsu Goto said gains are broadening beyond OpenAI, including in Arm. SoftBank shares rose 2.4% on the report.