SoftBank shares fall nearly 50% from June high after Arm’s weak outlook

SoftBank Group shares have now lost half their value from the record high reached just two months ago, as disappointing forward guidance from chip designer Arm Holdings compounded a broader selloff in AI-related stocks that has erased tens of billions of dollars in market capitalization across Asia's technology sector.

The Tokyo-listed conglomerate fell 2.27% on Thursday, July 30, closing at ¥4,612 — roughly 49% below the all-time high of ¥9,074 reached in early June, when enthusiasm over SoftBank's AI investments propelled the stock to a market capitalization exceeding $300 billion. The decline wiped approximately $3.8 billion from founder Masayoshi Son's net worth in a single day, dropping his fortune to $56.1 billion and widening the gap with Japan's richest person, Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai.ad-hoc-news+3

Arm's Mixed Quarter Triggers Selloff

Arm, in which SoftBank holds a majority stake, reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $1.29 billion, a 22% year-over-year increase that beat consensus estimates. However, the chip designer's guidance for the current quarter — projecting revenue of roughly $1.38 billion — fell short of some market expectations, and the company warned that smartphone royalties would decline in coming quarters. Arm shares fell 7% in after-hours U.S. trading on Wednesday, dragging SoftBank lower in Tokyo the following day.investing+1

A Deutsche Bank downgrade to Hold from Buy and a bearish technical signal — a "dead cross" that emerged on July 28 when the 25-day moving average crossed below the 75-day — have added to institutional selling pressure. The broader chip sector also suffered, with CNBC reporting that semiconductor stocks shed $1 trillion in value during a selloff that hit SK Hynix ↗ 4.64%, Samsung, and TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited ↗ 3.00%.cnbc+1

Stargate Ambitions Offer Counterweight

Despite the near-term pain, SoftBank staged a dramatic 11.41% rebound in the session following Thursday's decline as attention shifted to the company's long-term AI infrastructure plans. The centerpiece is the "Stargate" project in Ohio, where subsidiary SB Energy is planning a $500 billion hub for AI computing, with Nvidia ↗ 2.54% reportedly providing financing guarantees of up to $250 billion. SoftBank has secured a $40 billion bridge loan from 21 lenders to fund the initiative, though that debt matures in March 2027.ad-hoc-news

Regulatory headwinds loom as well: the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has been investigating Arm since May 2026 for potential anticompetitive licensing practices. With SoftBank's next quarterly results due in August, investors face a tug-of-war between the company's ambitious infrastructure pivot and the financial pressures of funding it.ad-hoc-news