SoftBank offloads entire stake in Nvidia for $5.8 billion, plans fresh AI bets

Group 1 - SoftBank Group Corp sold its entire stake in Nvidia Corp., realizing $5.8 billion ahead of planned investments in artificial intelligence by founder Masayoshi Son [1] - By the end of March, SoftBank had raised its stake in Nvidia to approximately $3 billion, contributing to a surprise net income of ¥2.5 trillion ($16.2 billion) in its fiscal second quarter, significantly exceeding analyst estimates [2] - SoftBank's share price surged by 78% over the three months ending in September, marking its best performance since the December quarter of 2005, driven by investments in AI companies like OpenAI and Oracle Corp [3] Group 2 - Citigroup analyst Keiichi Yoneshima raised forecasts for SoftBank, setting a target price of ¥27,100, based on OpenAI's valuation and a projected future valuation range of $500 billion to $1 trillion for the company [4] - Masayoshi Son is pursuing aggressive investments in AI and chips, including a planned $30 billion investment in OpenAI and courting partnerships for a $1 trillion AI manufacturing hub in Arizona [5] - The financing for new investments poses a challenge, with approximately $20 billion earmarked for OpenAI and $6.5 billion for the acquisition of Ampere Computing LLC, amid concerns about high valuations in the AI sector [6] Group 3 - A research note from Finimize indicated that SoftBank's stock has more than doubled, providing significant exposure to AI and tech, but the discount has mostly closed, suggesting it may be a good time to sell and take profits [7]