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SoftBank Swings to Profit on Help From Hot Indian IPO Market

(Bloomberg) — SoftBank Group Corp. ( 9984.T ) swung to its biggest quarterly profit in two years on a series of successful Indian listings, giving its founder Masayoshi Son more ammunition for his next bet.

The Tokyo-based company earned a net income of ¥1.18 trillion ($7.7 billion) in the September quarter, compared with a net loss of ¥931 billion last year. Analysts projected on average a net income of about ¥295 billion for the period. The Vision Fund reported a gain of ¥373 billion, which was also bolstered by a lift in the values of companies like Didi Global Inc. ( DIDIY ) and Coupang Inc. ( CPNG )

A boom in India’s IPO market is buoying the Vision Fund, which for years struggled to win returns commensurate with its $100 billion-plus scale. Seven years since the investment unit’s launch, it’s reaping gains from the debuts of startups such as e-scooter maker Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. ( OLAELEC.NS ) and online retailer Brainbees Solutions Ltd. ( FIRSTCRY.NS ), which sells baby products under the brand name FirstCry. The SoftBank-backed food-delivery app Swiggy Ltd.’s imminent $1.3 billion IPO was subscribed more than three times.

SoftBank is seeing a “harvest season in India,” Devi Subhakesan, an independent analyst from Investory Pte who publishes on SmartKarma, wrote in a note prior to the earnings release.

It’s a rare moment of victory for an investment team that remains saddled with hundreds of loss-making startups. The Vision Fund posted two straight years of hefty losses on a collapse in startup valuations, before swinging to a mild profit in fiscal 2023. The fund, which sought to funnel private equity-sized bets into tiny companies, has had to scale back new investments until recently.

SoftBank and the Vision Fund have since adopted a more targeted approach toward investing that focuses on generative AI. Their latest bets include OpenAI and Perplexity AI Inc.

“Roughly half of the second-quarter gain comes from surfacing upside from Indian IPOs,” said Kirk Boodry, an analyst with Astris Advisory. “If the IPO pipeline in the US reopens and VF companies are in demand, there could be a mini-boom. But what they plan to do with AI is probably more important.”

The positive earnings come as Son prepares for what appears to be a large-scale push into artificial intelligence and semiconductor investments. SoftBank has built up an enormous cash pile and the value of its assets excluding debt has soared with the share price of its chip affiliate Arm Holdings Plc.

Still, shares of SoftBank have risen and fallen with investors’ shifting sentiment about AI’s ability to meaningfully improve people’s lives. The stock tumbled after hitting a record high in July, but has since regained some ground.

(Updates with details from earnings statement)