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SoftBank Group swung to a net loss of 1.1 trillion yen, or about $7 billion, in the three months through September, Reuters reported. The result marked a reversal from a 2.5 trillion yen profit in the year-earlier quarter, when the Japanese technology investor recorded substantial gains from an increase in the value of its OpenAI stake. The company said a $3.7 billion charge arising from revised procurement plans for power-generation equipment at US data centre projects accounted for much of the swing, although it anticipates rebates of up to $2.1 billion on future orders.
According to Bloomberg, the loss exceeded average analyst forecasts for a modest profit and reflected broader pressure on AI-related investments as SoftBank’s shares have lost nearly half their value since June. Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto told a briefing that the data centre initiatives, including a major site in Pike County, Ohio, remained promising despite the immediate costs and were only beginning to scale. Financing expenses more than doubled to 462 billion yen in the quarter, the company said, driven by margin loans, bond issuance and higher interest rates.
SoftBank’s cumulative outlays on power infrastructure for the US projects reached roughly $9.5 billion by the end of September, with the six-month loss related to these adjustments totalling 597 billion yen. Declines in the share prices of Arm Holdings, Intel and Coupang added to the pressure on its portfolio, while the Vision Fund segment recorded an 81.6 billion yen loss. The earnings volatility is typical for the group given its reliance on investment gains and losses rather than steady operational income.
The company has committed $64.6 billion to secure a 13 percent stake in OpenAI, underscoring its aggressive positioning in artificial intelligence that has drawn both opportunity and scrutiny. Reuters noted that the Democratic Party’s success in last week’s US midterm elections has amplified investor concerns about potential regulatory tightening across the AI sector. Despite the quarterly setback, Goto emphasised that the data centre projects would expand significantly over the next five to 10 years.
A Stratview Research assessment projected the global AI data centre market to grow at a compound annual rate of 26.8 percent between 2026 and 2032, eventually surpassing $2.5 trillion as demand for AI workloads accelerates. SoftBank’s exposure to this expansion comes as the firm diversifies beyond its telecommunications roots into infrastructure that supports generative AI training and inference. The writedown, the company said, resulted from changes in equipment specifications and contractual obligations with suppliers after initial advance payments proved partly unnecessary.
Industry data from Jones Lang LaSalle indicate that nearly 100 gigawatts of additional data centre capacity will come online globally between 2026 and 2030, doubling existing supply and requiring up to $3 trillion in investment. SoftBank’s experience illustrates the execution risks inherent in such rapid buildouts, even as the long-term strategic rationale remains intact. The group’s overall revenue for the quarter nonetheless rose above some independent estimates, demonstrating resilience in its core operations amid the investment turbulence.
