Softbank Group Corp reported on Thursday a net profit of 248.6 billion yen (approximately $16.2 billion) for the October–December quarter of fiscal year 2025.

This result marks a significant turnaround from a net loss of 369 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

This represents the fourth consecutive quarter of profitability for the Japanese technology investor, primarily driven by continuous valuation gains in its investment in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. Throughout 2025, Softbank consistently increased its stake in OpenAI.

Softbank's total investment in OpenAI has now surpassed $30 billion, giving it an ownership stake of approximately 11%. This substantial commitment reflects a strategy of making a major bet on the company, anticipating it will emerge as the ultimate winner in the large language model race.

To fund these investments, the technology investment group has raised capital through asset sales, bond issuances, and by securing loans using its other holdings, such as chip designer Arm, as collateral.

Prior to this, the company had sold $5.8 billion worth of Nvidia stock in the previous quarter and divested part of its T-Mobile stake for $9.17 billion. These moves have raised investor concerns about Softbank's ability to sustain funding for OpenAI, which is not yet profitable.

Furthermore, although OpenAI was once considered the clear leader in the large model field, it now faces intense competition from rivals like Alphabet. The costs associated with training and operating its AI models have risen significantly recently, prompting the company to engage in related discussions.