SoftBank Reports $7 B Quarterly Loss Tied to U.S. AI Data‑Center Costs and Intel Share Drop

SoftBank Group reported a fiscal second-quarter net loss of 1.12 trillion yen (about $7 billion) on Tuesday, compared with a net profit of 2.5 trillion yen a year earlier, as changes to its U.S. AI data-center power-equipment plans and declines in its INTC shareholding weighed on results. Bloomberg described it as the group's first net loss in almost two years and also cited a drop in ARM. Revenue came in at 2.22 trillion yen, above LSEG estimates of 2.02 trillion yen.

The largest single item was a 597.2 billion yen ($3.7 billion) loss over the six months to Sept. 30, tied to changes in procurement plans for power-generation equipment for U.S. AI data-center projects; cumulative power-equipment payments totaled $9.48 billion at the end of September. The Vision Fund segment swung to an 81.58 billion yen loss, while SoftBank put its cumulative investment in OpenAI at $54.6 billion, with a fair value of $99.6 billion.

The write-down follows a public dispute. On November 6 Elon Musk posted that "SoftBank is defaulting on their turbine orders," and SoftBank's CFO responded that "there is no such default." MarketWatch's read is that Musk was half-right: SoftBank did book a loss from revising its power-equipment commitments, but it denies any default.

Investors looked past the headline loss. The shares closed 13.9% higher on Tuesday, after falling 11% on Friday and 4.2% on Monday as Reuters flagged scrutiny of SoftBank's AI spending and net interest-bearing debt of 10.8 trillion yen at the end of June. What to watch: further changes to the U.S. data-center buildout and its power supply, the swing in the Intel position, and how the OpenAI stake is valued in coming quarters.