SoftBank Group Corp.'s shares jumped 19.85% to 6,039 yen, adding nearly $35 billion to the company's market capitalisation in a single session. The conglomerate's total market value now stands at approximately 34.49 trillion yen, marking the biggest intraday gain since March 2020 and snapping a five-session losing streak. The surge follows investor concerns about transparency and collateral value of SoftBank's OpenAI-related assets, with the rally reflecting the company's deep exposure to the AI boom through its stake in Arm Holdings and investments in OpenAI. According to GF Value™, SoftBank Group Corp is currently trading at $17.75 versus its GF Value™ of $8.27, representing an overvaluation of 114.6%. The company's P/E (TTM) stands at 9.51x, notably higher than its 5-year median P/E of 6.84x, indicating significant market expectations for future growth.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is preparing to confidentially file for a US initial public offering (IPO) in the coming weeks, with the company aiming to go public as early as September. According to Reuters, OpenAI is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on a draft IPO prospectus that it plans to file with regulators soon. SoftBank and OpenAI have close ties through a capital alliance, with SoftBank being one of the largest OpenAI shareholders with about a 13% stake and having invested about $64.6 billion through its Vision Fund. The ChatGPT maker's IPO plans have renewed optimism around the AI sector, with investor sentiment lifted by the potential public listing. SoftBank holds over 10% of OpenAI's shares, which has greatly contributed to the increase in its stock value, as reported by GF Value™.
OpenAI has made a significant commitment to expand its presence in Asia, announcing more than 300 million Singapore dollars in funding for its first overseas lab. According to CNBC, the company will open an 'OpenAI Singapore Applied AI Lab', marking its first international facility. The announcement came during ATxSummit 2026 in Singapore, hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), which opened on 19 May 2026 with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam as Guest-of-Honour. The two-day summit brought together government leaders, international organisations including the World Bank Group, OECD and ITU, industry executives such as OpenAI Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser and Amazon legal chief David Zapolsky, and academic figures including Professor Yoshua Bengio.
SB Energy, which develops energy infrastructure for data centers, announced Wednesday that it would file a confidential draft registration statement for a proposed IPO in the US. The company has raised more than $1.8 billion over the past year from SoftBank, OpenAI and Ares Management to fund its data center expansion plans. The filing represents a significant step toward bringing the data center energy infrastructure company public, with the rally extending across Asia as semiconductor and technology stocks linked to Nvidia's supply chain advanced sharply on Thursday.
Nvidia reported another blockbuster quarterly performance overnight, with revenue soaring 85% year-on-year to $81.62 billion from $44.06 billion. The chipmaker also announced an $80 billion share repurchase programme and increased its dividend, reinforcing confidence in sustained AI-driven growth. Arm Holdings shares gained more than 15% during US trading hours, reflecting SoftBank's deep exposure to the AI boom through its stake in the chip architectures that power AI servers and data centres built on Nvidia systems. The upbeat sentiment extended across Asia, with semiconductor stocks advancing sharply on Thursday.
