阿尔法工场研究院·2025-11-13 00:07Core Viewpoint - SoftBank's recent strategic moves, including the sale of its entire stake in NVIDIA and significant investments in OpenAI, indicate a shift towards prioritizing AI investments, positioning the company as a key player in the AI market [3][12][15]. Financial Performance - SoftBank reported a net profit of 2.5 trillion yen (approximately 162 billion USD) for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, exceeding market expectations [8]. - For the first half of fiscal year 2025, SoftBank's net sales reached 3.74 trillion yen, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%, while net profit soared to 2.92 trillion yen, up 190.9% [9]. - The surge in performance was largely attributed to the Vision Fund's profit of 2.38 trillion yen in a single quarter, driven by investments in OpenAI and PayPal [10]. Strategic Asset Management - SoftBank's CFO stated that the sale of NVIDIA shares was part of an "asset monetization" strategy, aimed at maintaining financial stability while providing investment opportunities [8]. - The company sold its NVIDIA shares for 5.83 billion USD, marking a significant cash inflow [4][5]. - Following the sale, SoftBank's stock price increased significantly, rising over 338% since April, with a market capitalization exceeding 38 trillion yen (approximately 1.7 trillion RMB) [10]. Investment Focus - SoftBank is committing to invest an additional 22.5 billion USD in OpenAI, as part of its AI strategic layout [14]. - Since September 2024, SoftBank has been heavily investing in OpenAI, with a total planned investment of 40 billion USD, of which approximately 30 billion USD has already been contributed [14]. - The company is also diversifying its AI investments, including a 5.375 billion USD acquisition of ABB's robotics business and holding significant shares in Arm [14]. Market Sentiment and Concerns - The timing of SoftBank's divestment from NVIDIA coincides with rising concerns about a potential AI investment bubble, as market sentiment shifts [17][20]. - Despite strong performance from AI companies like NVIDIA, there are contrasting views on the sustainability of current valuations, with some analysts warning of parallels to the dot-com bubble [22]. - OpenAI's valuation has surged from 300 billion USD in March 2025 to 500 billion USD by October, raising questions about its profitability, as it reported annual revenues of only 12 billion USD against losses of 8 billion USD [23][24].