CANADA – 2025/08/07: In this photo illustration, the SoftBank Group logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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SoftBank Group shares experienced a significant downturn, plummeting over 11% following a broad sell-off in the U.S. market attributed to widespread profit-taking within the technology sector. This market correction extended to other prominent Asian tech entities, with key players like TSMC and Foxconn also witnessing declines in their stock valuations.
Despite SoftBank’s recent ascendancy, surpassing Toyota Motor to become Japan’s most valuable company, investor sentiment is increasingly dominated by concerns over the conglomerate’s aggressive, high-risk investments in artificial intelligence. This cautious outlook emerges even as SoftBank’s stock has seen a remarkable year-to-date surge of approximately 70%, fueled by prevailing investor enthusiasm for AI technologies.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has articulated an ambitious vision, projecting that the AI revolution will dwarf the dot-com boom of the early 2000s, potentially by a factor of fifty. Reflecting on historical market cycles, Son noted, “If you look at the history, electronics and motorization crashed in 1929, but went up for many, many years, for the next 100 years after that… so there may be some correction, but that will be the best investment opportunity to me.” This perspective suggests an appetite for buying into market dips, viewing them as strategic entry points for long-term growth.
However, market analysis, such as that from Deutsche Bank analyst Peter Milliken, indicates a prevailing trend where “the market appears to become fixated on short-term momentum, and less interested, or unable, to map out the long-term trajectory with detailed assumptions.” This short-term focus could be contributing to the volatility experienced by tech stocks.
In South Korea, the impact of this profit-taking was evident in the performance of Samsung and SK Hynix. Both companies, which had recently achieved market valuations exceeding $1 trillion in May, saw their shares decline by 1.25% and 2.75% respectively. Similarly, Taiwan’s TSMC experienced a 1.65% drop, while Foxconn’s stock fell by over 4%.
The sell-off in Asia mirrored movements in the U.S. overnight. Leading chip manufacturer Nvidia saw its shares decline by 3.62%, while Alphabet and Amazon registered losses of 0.79% and 2.5% respectively. This synchronized decline underscores the interconnectedness of the global technology supply chain and investor sentiment.
In a strategic move, SoftBank recently divested a 3.25% stake in Indian eyewear firm Lenskart. Through its affiliate SVF II Lightbulb (Cayman), the company offloaded 56.5 million shares at 508.55 Indian rupees each, totaling approximately 28.73 billion rupees. This transaction indicates a potential recalibration of SoftBank’s portfolio, possibly to consolidate gains or reallocate capital towards new investment opportunities.
SoftBank’s shares were last trading 11.3% lower at 7,377 yen, reflecting the broader market’s cautious sentiment.
The repercussions of the U.S. market’s tech sell-off were also felt by financial institutions with significant exposure to Asian markets. London-listed Standard Chartered and HSBC saw sharp declines, with shares falling 6.9% and 4.9% respectively. Prudential, the U.K.-based insurance and asset management giant with a substantial presence in Hong Kong, also experienced a significant drop, tumbling 7.2% to the bottom of the FTSE 100 index.
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