SoftBank’s (SFTBY) shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (JP:9984) closed 3% higher on Friday as the Japanese conglomerate revealed it had secured a bridge loan of $40 billion to boost its investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI.
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SoftBank to Boost OpenAI Stake to $64.6 Billion
The announcement comes weeks after the investment holding company stated its intention to ramp up its stake to 13% from the current 11% by injecting an additional $30 billion in capital. Now, SoftBank has secured temporary financing from a combination of Wall Street and Japanese banking giants.
The banks are JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Mizuho Bank (MFG), Sumitomo Mitsui (SMFNF), and MUFG (MUFG). The conglomerate plans to spend the rest of the fund on general corporate purposes.
Since September 2024, the Masayoshi Son-led Japanese firm has invested $34.6 billion in OpenAI, with the new injection poised to push that figure to $64.6 billion. SoftBank has previously stated that it plans to commit the follow-on in three tranches of $10 billion each, planned for April, July, and October this year.
SoftBank Doubles Down on AI Bet
The move comes as Son has been doubling down on the firm’s exposure to the AI infrastructure buildout, even as the company recently dumped its entire stake in Nvidia (NVDA) to boost its OpenAI stake by $22.5 billion.
Son has said SoftBank is “deeply aligned with OpenAI’s vision.” Both companies are key collaborators on the $500 billion Stargate project.
Apart from OpenAI, SoftBank is also making AI bets on several U.S. companies and is currently working to take over digital infrastructure investment firm DigitalBridge Group (DBRG) in a $4 billion deal. It is also playing a key role in the $550 billion U.S.-Japan trade deal.
Is SoftBank a Good Stock Buy?
On Wall Street, SoftBank Group’s U.S.-listed shares lack sufficient coverage. However, the majority of TipRanks’ AI analysts rate SFTBY as Neutral (Hold).
For instance, OpenAI-5.2 ranks SFTBY as Neutral, with a score of 61 out of 100. This comes with a price target of $12, suggesting about 3% upside. The model points to high financial leverage and weak cash generation for the rating.
