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SoftBank's ¥1,115.3 billion July-September net loss follows a $3.7 billion charge on power equipment for U.S. AI data centers, but its Ohio, Texas and France builds stay on.
Chips & Power DeskEdited by Ege Erten
3 min readAI-assisted
SoftBank's July-September net loss was ¥1,115.3 billion; its Ohio and Texas data center projects are 8.0 GW-IT and 753 MW-IT.
Illustration (AI-generated)
SoftBank Group posted a $7.0 billion net loss (¥1,115.3 billion) attributable to owners of the parent for July-September 2026, after it wrote off ¥597.2 billion ($3.7 billion) tied to power-generation equipment for its U.S. AI data-center projects, according to the company's earnings presentation released on Nov. 10.
The charge is not a cancelled campus. SoftBank said a subsidiary, Silver Bands 7, bridged the purchase of power-generation equipment in advance, expecting shortages, and then revised its procurement strategy "given the evolving requirements of its existing and planned projects," according to SoftBank's consolidated financial report. Silver Bands 7's cumulative payments since the previous fiscal year totaled ¥1,500.9 billion ($9.48 billion), including advance payments for the PORTS-Pike campus in Pike County, Ohio.
The ¥597.2 billion loss splits into ¥457.0 billion ($2.85 billion) on non-refundable advance payments made to secure manufacturing capacity and equipment, and ¥140.2 billion ($0.88 billion) on contract modifications and settlements. SoftBank's presentation says $2.9 billion of the loss has already been paid in cash. It also says Silver Bands 7 is entitled to rebates of up to $2.1 billion on future equipment purchases over 10 years, subject to conditions; the company has not booked that amount as an asset.
The wider swing came from investments. Total gain on investments was a loss of ¥133.6 billion, against a gain of ¥3,439.7 billion a year earlier, when OpenAI's valuation drove the result, per the financial report. Finance cost rose to ¥461.9 billion from ¥174.7 billion, including the remaining costs of a bridge loan that SoftBank expensed after repaying the $25.9 billion balance early on Sept. 15.
Intel contributed in both directions. SoftBank raised $7.35 billion in August through prepaid forward contracts backed by all of its Intel shares and booked a ¥321.9 billion derivative loss on them as Intel's share price rose after signing. Its presentation also shows a ¥270.1 billion Intel valuation loss in the quarter, although the Intel stake produced a ¥1,062.8 billion gain over the six months. A further ¥203.8 billion derivative loss reflected warrants that Energy Global, a SoftBank subsidiary, granted to OpenAI as incentives under data-center lease arrangements.
For comparison, SoftBank's first quarter showed net income of ¥347.3 billion, so the six-month result is a ¥768.0 billion net loss against a ¥2,924.1 billion profit a year earlier. Reuters, via The Star, reported that three analysts polled by LSEG had forecast anything from a ¥233 billion profit to a ¥113 billion loss, and that SoftBank has spent $64.6 billion on a 13% stake in OpenAI.
The buildout itself is intact. SoftBank lists three projects as of Sept. 30: 753 MW-IT under construction in Milam County, Texas, leased to OpenAI for 15 years; the 8.0 GW-IT PORTS-Pike campus in Ohio, where OpenAI signed a 20-year lease on Aug. 17; and 5.0 GW of gross capacity in France, with 3.1 GW targeted by 2031. SoftBank says NVIDIA's credit support covers at least 4.25 GW-IT of the Ohio leases, with an option on a further 3.75 GW-IT.
The financing design matters more than the charge. In its presentation, SoftBank says it expects to fund the data-center buildings through project finance that is non-recourse to the parent, with the tenant supplying the IT equipment. It also said it expects to recoup the advance payments through that project financing, and $6.6 billion of those payments remained on the balance sheet on Sept. 30. SoftBank has not said whether the equipment will be reused, resold or replaced.
Voltgrid News reported earlier on SoftBank's Malaysia data center plan, and that AEP counts a 10.4-GW Ohio campus developed by SB Energy in its contracted load. That is a utility load figure, a different basis from SoftBank's 8.0 GW-IT.
SoftBank's release does not name the equipment, its suppliers or which projects it was meant for beyond PORTS-Pike and "others." The rebate depends on conditions the company has not detailed, so its value is not yet counted. Reuters' report noted that SoftBank's earnings are volatile and hard to predict.
