SoftBank Surges 20% as Nvidia Blowout Quarter Lifts AI-Linked Asia Stocks

CNBC reported Thursday that SoftBank Nvidia AI earnings catalyzed one of the Japanese conglomerate’s strongest single-session gains in recent memory. Shares closed up nearly 20%, adding more than $35 billion to the group’s market capitalization.

Nvidia’s Blowout Quarter Drives the Surge

Nvidia reported quarterly revenue of $81.62 billion, an 85% jump from $44.06 billion in the same period a year prior. The chip giant also announced an $80 billion share buyback program and raised its dividend. Despite the strong results, Nvidia shares dipped in after-hours trading. CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that the company has effectively ceded China’s AI chip market to Huawei.

SoftBank’s AI Exposure Amplifies the Reaction

SoftBank’s sharp move reflects its deep entanglement with the AI investment cycle. The Tokyo-based conglomerate holds a significant stake in Arm Holdings, whose chip architectures underpin AI servers and data center infrastructure running on Nvidia hardware. SoftBank has also committed more than $30 billion to OpenAI, with gains tied to that position reaching approximately $45 billion in the fiscal year ended March. The group’s Vision Fund posted a $46 billion annual gain last week, driven largely by OpenAI’s soaring valuation. Analysts at Fitch unit CreditSights reiterated an outperform view on SoftBank debt, noting that strength in Arm’s share price has substantially improved the conglomerate’s balance sheet.

Background: A Five-Day Slide Reversed

SoftBank shares had fallen for five consecutive sessions before Thursday’s reversal. Andrew Jackson, head of Japanese equity strategy at Ortus Advisors, told CNBC that renewed optimism around a potential OpenAI public listing helped power Arm Holdings up more than 15% in U.S. trading. Jackson noted the scale of the move was notable given SoftBank’s concentrated exposure to AI-related assets.

Also Read: What Arm Holdings’ Valuation Surge Means for SoftBank’s Balance Sheet

Asian Semiconductor Stocks Ride the Wave

The Nvidia-driven optimism spread across Asia’s tech supply chain. Taiwan’s TSMC, Nvidia’s primary manufacturer of advanced AI processors, gained more than 2%. Memory chipmaker SK Hynix surged 11.2%, while Samsung Electronics rose 8.5%, aided in part by a tentative pay deal between the company and its South Korean labor union. Japan’s Renesas Electronics climbed 8.2%, Tokyo Electron added 5.9%, and semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest rose 4.4%.

The breadth of gains underscored how deeply Nvidia’s results reverberate across the global AI hardware ecosystem.

Read Next: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says Company Has ‘Largely Conceded’ China AI Chip Market to Huawei