SoftBank suddenly surged to the top of Japan’s stock market on a tremendous wave of AI excitement. The tech group has surged nearly 73% year-to-date as investors flock to AI and semiconductor names, reports The Financial Times. SoftBank has eclipsed Toyota for the first time in more than 20 years, becoming the most valuable listed corporation in the country.
SoftBank’s rally propelled Japan’s Nikkei 225 index to a record above 67,000 this week. CryptoRank and other market trackers say SoftBank alone added more than 600 points to the benchmark in a single session, as its market value jumped to about 47.2 trillion yen, ahead of Toyota’s 45.7 trillion yen. Therefore, the AI trade is not just lifting one stock but reshaping the entire story of Japan’s equity market.
Masayoshi Son Rides OpenAI And Arm Wave
SoftBank’s rally is closely tied to CEO Masayoshi Son’s huge bets on AI infrastructure and startups. The Wall Street Journal reports that SoftBank booked roughly $25 billion in gains from its OpenAI investment, helping annual net profit more than quadruple to about $5 trillion yen. Analysts now estimate that SoftBank’s OpenAI stake could be worth around $ 65 billion, making it one of the group’s most important assets.
At the same time, SoftBank still owns a majority of Arm, the British chip designer whose processors power many AI servers and smartphones. CNBC says Arm’s stock has soared after strong earnings, and its jump has fed directly into SoftBank’s share price, as markets see Arm as a key beneficiary of AI data center spending.
Consequently, Son’s decision to double down on AI chips and models after years of mixed startup bets now looks much smarter in investors’ eyes.
SoftBank is not slowing down, even after this huge run. The Seoul Economic Daily and other outlets report that the company has announced plans to invest up to 75 billion euros in a massive AI data center project in France, part of a broader push to build a global computing network. Local media in Japan have described SoftBank overtaking Toyota as a sign of “the full‑fledged arrival of the AI era.”
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