TOKYO — Japanese tech investor SoftBank reported Thursday a 1.3 trillion yen ($8.4 billion) return on its investment in Intel thanks to the US chip giant's increased share price.

 

SoftBank posted a nearly 18 per cent year-on-year fall in first-quarter net profit, but the figure still beat expectations in an earnings release closely watched by markets.

 

Concern over the longevity of the boom in demand for services and materials related to artificial intelligence has fuelled share price volatility in recent months.

 

But SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has said calling a long-running rally in tech stocks a bubble was "blasphemy against AI" — and that he believed the societal revolution the fast-evolving technology will deliver has only just begun.

 

SoftBank's earnings often swing dramatically because it invests heavily in tech start-ups and chip firms, whose stocks often see sharp movements in both directions.

 

Net profit quadrupled in the 2025-26 financial year.

 

On Thursday the company said net income in the April-June quarter of 2026-27 came to 347.3 billion yen, down 17.7 per cent on-year.

 

That nonetheless massively beat estimates of 165.8 billion yen in a Bloomberg analyst survey, partly thanks to the Intel gains.

 

SoftBank is a major backer of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which is preparing a highly anticipated initial public offering.

 

In a sign of how jittery markets have become over AI, SoftBank shares plunged in late June after a report in the New York Times said that OpenAI was leaning towards delaying the IPO until next year.

 

SoftBank said Thursday it had completed its latest $10 billion investment in OpenAI in July.

 

Son said in May that SoftBank would spend 75 billion euros ($87 billion) on artificial intelligence infrastructure in France — a boost to President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to attract high-tech industries to the country.