Japan's SoftBank back in the black as investments improve
Japanese technology company SoftBank Group Corp. has reported it bounced back to profitability in the last quarter as its investments improved in value
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Japanese technology company SoftBank Group Corp. said Monday it bounced back to profitability in the last quarter as its investments improved in value
The Tokyo-based company reported a 627 billion yen, or about $6.1 billion, profit in July-September, compared with a loss of 700 billion yen in the same quarter of 2019.
SoftBank said its quarterly sales rose nearly 5% to 1.35 trillion yen, or $13 billion, from 1.29 trillion yen.
SoftBank's Vision Fund also has become profitable recently.
SoftBank, which invests in an array of companies, has sold U.S. carrier Sprint, as well as British IoT company Arm. It has also sold some its stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba to raise cash for more investments.
Sprint merged with T-Mobile in April, which means Sprint is no longer part of SoftBank’s group or earnings.
The company's chief executive, Masayoshi Son, has described hardships from the coronavirus pandemic to those of the Great Depression.
But the crisis has proven to be a plus for some technology companies as people stuck at home gear up to work remotely and shop online.
Son told reporters the company was sticking to its initial goal of delivering happiness to people through what he calls “the information revolution." He said profits or losses mean little to his business model. The critical thing for SoftBank is its net asset value, he said.
Son said his investments will focus on AI or artificial intelligence, which he said will prove vital to all the companies he's banking on, like robots doing deliveries and automated driving.
“We used to say whoever rules the mobile net will rule the net,” he said. “We think whoever rules AI will rule the future.”
Some startups SoftBank has banked on have played out better than others. Office-sharing company WeWork slammed earnings last year. But SoftBank still has hopes for WeWork’s potential in some markets such as Japan, where interest remains even with the pandemic.
SoftBank also has investments in Yahoo! Japan and the Pepper companion robot, and in its SoftBank mobile carrier in Japan, the first to offer the iPhone in Japan.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama