SoftBank Group announced its semi-annual report from April to September 2026 on the 10th: a net loss of 768 billion yen. In the same period last year, net profit was 2.924 trillion yen.
The biggest loss comes from the AI data center project in the United States. SoftBank has adjusted its purchase plan for power generation-related equipment. The advance payment made to lock production capacity and purchase equipment is non-refundable, and this part is directly recorded as a loss; plus losses from contract changes and settlement, a total of approximately 600 billion yen has been recognized.
To put it simply, if you pay a deposit and change your plans, you won’t get the money back.
The other two pieces don't look good either. The "AI Computing Business" unit composed of three semiconductor subsidiaries including Arm lost 322 billion yen. The Vision Fund, which invests in companies such as OpenAI, saw investment income fall to 341.2 billion yen, only one-tenth of the same period last year.
SoftBank is the heaviest financial investor in this round of AI infrastructure. It is not only the major shareholder of OpenAI, but also takes the lead in building data centers in the United States, and it also holds Arm. The three lines amplify each other when going downwind, and the same goes when going upwind.
This financial report is worth taking a look at for other companies that are signing long-term computing power contracts. The bottlenecks in AI data centers are not limited to GPUs. Delivery times for transformers, gas turbines, and power distribution equipment are often two to three years, and each company is paying in advance to grab production capacity. If the site selection, power plan or customer needs change after grabbing it, these upfront payments will become sunk costs. SoftBank’s 600 billion yen is currently the largest tuition fee publicly disclosed.
Masayoshi Son has previously said that he will make SoftBank “the number one platform in the era of super intelligence.” A loss of 768 billion yen in half a year is still far from this statement, at least for now.