SoftBank sells entire NVIDIA stake as investment gains, losses shape earnings

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp has sold its entire stake in tech giant NVIDIA, realising approximately $5.83 billion from the transaction.

The disposal took place in October 2025 and was disclosed in SoftBank’s second quarter financial report, released on November 11.

The sale followed a period in which NVIDIA’s share price rose significantly, contributing to a strong uplift in the valuation of SoftBank’s holdings prior to their disposal.

As of September 30, 2025, the shares were still recorded on SoftBank’s balance sheet, valued at approximately $5.99 billion. The holding was divided between short term financial assets and longer term investment securities, reflecting different classification of the shares within the group’s reporting structure.

Following the quarter end, SoftBank sold 32.1 million NVIDIA shares, converting unrealised gains into realised proceeds. The company reported that the rise in NVIDIA’s share price during the quarter increased the carrying value of the shares held at that time, contributing to a substantial investment gain.

The sale formed part of a wider set of investment movements within SoftBank’s portfolio. During the reporting period, SoftBank recorded gains on an OpenAI-related forward contract and on its investment in Intel. These gains were largely offset by declines in the value of holdings in T-Mobile and Alibaba.

The result was a quarter characterised by strong profits alongside notable volatility across different asset classes.

SoftBank’s relationship with NVIDIA has attracted sustained attention due to the broader narrative around timing and long-term valuation. The group initially built almost a 5% stake in NVIDIA in 2017 through its Vision Fund at a cost estimated at around $4 billion. That holding was sold in 2019 for approximately $3.6 billion.

Subsequent sharp rises in NVIDIA’s share price during the expansion of AI and high performance computing technologies led reports to highlight the potentially significant gains that might have been realised had the stake been held longer. By October 2025, the same holding would have been worth well over $200 billion.

Both Masayoshi Son, Founder, SoftBank; and Jensen Huang, Chief Executive Officer of NVIDIA, have publicly acknowledged the timing issue, often with humour, while both continue to stress ongoing cooperation in technology development.

Although SoftBank no longer holds a financial stake in NVIDIA at the group level, its telecommunications subsidiary SoftBank Corp continues to collaborate with NVIDIA on AI infrastructure and data centre initiatives in Japan. The companies have presented this collaboration as a strategic effort to expand domestic computing capacity to meet growing demand for generative AI applications.

For the July to September quarter, SoftBank reported a profit of ¥2.5 trillion ($16.22 billion), supported by gains within the Vision Fund investment operations. The company recorded ¥2.4 trillion ($15.6 billion) of profit attributed to investments within the Vision Fund framework.

However, Vision Fund II continued to report realised losses, reflecting a portfolio that has faced challenges following the market correction in technology valuations over recent years.

The latest results mark SoftBank’s third consecutive quarter of profitability, although management has continued to indicate that investment performance will vary depending on market conditions, technology sector valuation trends and strategic capital allocation decisions.

The realisation of SoftBank’s remaining NVIDIA holding provides new liquidity at a time when the group is increasingly focused on positioning itself in the emerging artificial intelligence sector.