PanamaTimes

Monday, Jun 30, 2025

SoftBank's Vision Fund posts fourth straight quarter of losses as tech slump hits Japanese giant

SoftBank's Vision Fund posts fourth straight quarter of losses as tech slump hits Japanese giant

SoftBank's flagship investment arm, the Vision Fund, has been hit by a slump in technology valuations over the past year.
SoftBank’s flagship investment arm the Vision Fund posted its fourth straight quarterly loss on Tuesday as a slump in technology valuations continues to hit the Japanese giant.

The Vision Fund segment posted a pre-tax loss of 660 billion Japanese yen ($5 billion) for the December quarter. SoftBank’s Vision Fund’s loss on investments came in at 730.35 billion yen over the three-month period.

SoftBank Group overall reported a net loss of 783.4 billion yen, sinking back to a quarterly loss after posting a profit in the July-to-September quarter.

It has been a tough time for SoftBank whose Vision Fund has stakes in a range of tech companies, from start-ups to listed behemoths, amid a massive drop in technology valuations over the past year.

SoftBank said some of the major losses in the last quarter were due to an “overall decrease in the fair value of portfolio companies, mainly reflecting markdowns of weaker-performing companies and share price declines in market comparable companies.”

Some of SoftBank’s worst-performing investments include Chinese artificial intelligence firm SenseTime, which is down 57% over the past year, and Indonesian technology group GoTo, which has seen its shares plummet over 65%.

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s outspoken founder and the mastermind behind the Vision Fund, said in May that the company would go into “defense” mode and be more “conservative” with the pace of investments after the unit posted a record 3.5 trillion Japanese yen loss for last fiscal year.

SoftBank said that it made just $2.76 billion in new and follow-on investments in the nine months to Dec. 31, a “significant reduction” from $39.24 billion in 2021.

Over the past year, SoftBank has been exiting some of its highest-profile investments to raise cash. In August, it said it had sold its remaining stake in U.S. ride-hailing giant Uber. And last year, it sold some of its Alibaba shares via a derivative called a forward contract. Son made his fortune with an early investment in Alibaba more than two decades ago.

Son, who is known for his colourful investor presentations, was not present on the company’s earnings call Tuesday.

The SoftBank CEO is currently focused on trying to pull off a public listing of ARM, the British chip designer it bought in 2016. The company’s finance chief Yoshimitsu Goto said on Tuesday that the listing of ARM will take place this year.

“Preparation is underway and we will see how the market condition goes,” Goto said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Brazilian Congress Rejects Lula's Proposed Tax Increase on Financial Transactions
Landslide in Bello, Colombia, Results in Multiple Casualties
Papa Johns pizza surge near the Pentagon tipped off social media before Trump's decisive Iran strike
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Sole Survivor of Air India Crash Recounts Escape
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Protests Erupt in Los Angeles with Symbolic Flag Burning
Trump Administration Issues New Travel Ban Targeting 12 Countries
Man Group Mandates Full-Time Office Return for Quantitative Analysts
JPMorgan Warns Analysts Against Accepting Future-Dated Job Offers
Builder.ai Faces Legal Scrutiny Amid Financial Misreporting Allegations
Japan Grapples with Rice Shortage Amid Soaring Prices
Goldman Sachs Reduces Risk Exposure Amid Market Volatility
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to Return to AIA as Non-Executive Chair
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Judge Blocks Trump's Ban on International Students at Harvard
Trump Proposes Travel Ban on 'Uncontrolled' Countries
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Eurozone Inflation Falls Below ECB Target to 1.9%
Call for a New Chapter in Globalisation Emerges
Blackstone and Rivals Diverge on Private Equity Strategy
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Netanyahu Accuses Western Leaders of 'Emboldening Hamas'
Escalating Trade Tensions and Market Reactions
OnlyFans Reportedly in Talks for $8 Billion Sale
JBS Gains Shareholder Approval for U.S. Stock Listing
Booz Allen Hamilton to Cut 2,500 Jobs Amid Federal Spending Reductions
Trump Signs Executive Orders to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Development
Harvard Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration's International Student Ban
Nippon Steel Forms Partnership with U.S. Steel, Headquarters to Remain in Pittsburgh
Trump Expands Tariff Threats to Apple and Samsung Devices
Oracle and OpenAI Plan $40 Billion Nvidia Chip Purchase for AI Data Center
Trump Threatens 50% Tariff on EU Goods, Markets React
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Former FBI Director James Comey Questioned by Secret Service Over Social Media Post
Mexican Influencer Valeria Márquez Killed During Livestream in Suspected Femicide
×