SoftBank expected to book $1.87bln quarterly profit on IPOs

Analysts are also looking out for signs of new investment momentum driven by SoftBank's robust balance sheet and management's bullish stance on AI

Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group is expected to report a 287 billion yen ($1.87 billion) quarterly profit on Tuesday, bolstered by successful portfolio company listings even as a stronger yen dampened foreign currency-denominated gains.

Analysts are also looking out for signs of new investment momentum driven by SoftBank's robust balance sheet and management's bullish stance on AI.

The net profit forecast for July-September is based on the average of four analyst estimates compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), and compares with a loss of 931 billion yen in the same period last year.

MST analyst David Gibson estimates an investment gain of $3.9 billion for the quarter, with the initial public offerings of two Indian companies - Brainbees Solutions and Ola Electric - seen generating income of $0.9 billion and $1 billion, respectively.

A decline of nearly 10% in the value of the dollar versus the yen over the period is expected to weigh on SoftBank's bottom line.

Analysts are keenly awaiting SoftBank's investment plans, after Founder and CEO Masayoshi Son told an investment summit in Saudi Arabia last month that he was saving tens of billion dollars for the next big move.

The pace of SoftBank's new investments is already trending upward, reaching $1.9 billion in the April-June quarter, up from $0.3 billion in January-March. In early October, SoftBank also joined in the latest funding round for ChatGPT operator OpenAI.

Analysts are especially interested in SoftBank's reported efforts to manufacture artificial intelligence chips to rival market leader Nvidia, potentially through a collaboration between chip designer Arm, in which it holds a 90% stake, and recently acquired chip manufacturer Graphcore.

They note that SoftBank made a deal with Arm to license its intellectual property in the most recent quarter, worth $43.2 million in revenue, which may be related.