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Investing.com-- SoftBank Group (TYO:9984) reported a robust first-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by gains at its Vision Fund unit and strategic investments in artificial intelligence.
The Japanese conglomerate posted a net income of 421.8 billion yen ($2.87 billion) for the three months ended June 30, a significant turnaround from a 174.3 billion yen loss a year earlier.
Income before tax surged 206% to 689.9 billion yen, buoyed by a 660.2 billion yen investment gain at its Vision Funds, which benefited from rising valuations in portfolio companies like Coupang LLC (NYSE:CPNG) and Symbotic Inc (NASDAQ:SYM).
Launched in 2017 and 2019, SoftBank’s Vision Funds were designed by CEO Masayoshi Son as vehicles to invest in the “AI revolution.”
SoftBank has continued to amplify its AI investments amid this resurgence. It was spearheading a $40 billion funding round for OpenAI; however, it plans to syndicate out $10.0 billion of the total sum to co-investors.
The effective investment amount is expected to be up to $30.0 billion, the company said, adding that the cumulative investment in OpenAI stood at $9.7 billion as of the first quarter-end.
In parallel, the firm is leading the $500 billion Stargate data‑center initiative in the U.S., aimed at building critical AI infrastructure.
However, SoftBank’s holding company segment recorded a 256.5 billion yen loss, including a 401.9 billion yen hit from T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) shares and a 171.5 billion yen loss on Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) shares.
The firm maintained its dividend forecast at 44 yen per share for the fiscal year.
Tokyo-listed shares of the company traded 2.4% higher at 229.8 yen after the release of results.