STRATEGY NOTE SoftBank Group (9984) Investment decisions are neutral, evaluation depends o... Market analysis and investment strategy INSIGHT Reading markets through structure

Overview

*Sales: Flat to slightly increasing trend *Operating income: highly variable

  • Final profit: Significant fluctuation (depends on investment profit and loss)
  • YoY: Going back and forth between surplus and deficit

One word: Evaluation as an investment company is the essence

Financial Highlights (Simple Table)

IndicatorsContents
SalesStable trend
Operating incomeFluctuations due to investment profits and losses
Final profitSignificant increase/decrease
Factor 1Vision Fund Evaluation
Factor 2Interest rates/stock market

What happened (most important)

Quantity

  • Stable businesses such as telecommunications are performing well → Structurally stable

Price

  • Depends on investee stock price → Depends on market environment (temporary factor)

Cost

  • Increased financial burden due to rising interest rates → Structure + external factors

Exchange

  • Weak yen is positive for overseas assets → Temporary factors

Latest materials (3 months)

  • Financial results: Recovery of investment valuation gains
  • Expectations for AI investment (Arm related)
  • Impact of NASDAQ rise
  • Uncertainty in interest rate trends

=> Stock prices are under upward pressure due to AI theme + asset value => On the other hand, risk of decline due to market adjustment

Business structure

Source of revenue

  • Investment (Vision Fund)
  • Arm
  • Communication (Softbank)

Profit margin

  • Unstable due to investment dependence

Strengths

  • Global investment network
  • AI related assets

Weaknesses

  • Low repeatability of profits
  • Financial leverage

Implications for stock prices

*Positive: Evaluation as an AI-related stock

  • Negative: Continued asset discount
  • Incorporated: There is a certain expectation of recovery.
  • Gap: Undervalued compared to NAV

=> Battle of asset value vs. creditworthiness

Short term (6 months)

  • Nasdaq trends *Arm stock price
  • Valuation gain at settlement of accounts

=> Highly linked to the market

Mid-term (1 year)

  • Monetization of AI investments
  • Financial improvement
  • Discount reduction

=> There is room to modify the evaluation, but with conditions

Scenario analysis

Bullish: 30% AI market continues + Arm rise → Stock price rise

Neutral: 50% Market stability → flat trend

Bearish: 20% Stock market decline + interest rate rise → decline

Risk (simple table)

RiskContents
MarketLoss due to stock price decline
Interest rateIncreased financial burden
InvestmentValuation loss

Summary

  • Conclusion: Neutral
  • Strong characteristics as an investment company
  • There are expectations for AI, but there is a lot of fluctuation
  • Next material: financial results, Arm, market trends