SoftBank writes off $3.7 billion of power deposits for OpenAI's Ohio campus in a $7.1 billion loss
SoftBank's first quarterly loss in almost two years is a writedown of $3.7 billion in non-refundable power-equipment deposits, cash already sitting with suppliers, and it lands on the holders of ¥32.59 trillion of interest-bearing debt and of the stock. Wednesday's Tokyo open is the first tradeable reaction to the booked hole.
Richard Tangthree-minute read
SoftBank, the Japanese tech investor and OpenAI's$1.18T — OpenAI, private, latest valuation $1.18T biggest backer, booked a ¥1.12 trillion ($7.1 billion) net loss for the July-to-September quarter, its first in almost two years, against an expected profit 18. The decisive $3.7 billion is not a valuation swing: it writes off non-refundable advance payments to secure power-generation equipment for the 8-gigawatt Ohio data-center campus and other US sites 12.
That cash has left SoftBank and sits with the suppliers, while the loss lands on the holders of its stock and debt 12. The shares closed 13.88% higher in Tokyo on Tuesday, hours before the release, and sit more than 50% below June's record, so Wednesday's open is the first tradeable reaction 13.
From a ¥2.5 trillion profit to a ¥1.12 trillion loss in a year
Ohio writedowns turned an expected ¥129 billion profit into the first loss in two years
- Net income
- Estimate
Data
| Net income | |
|---|---|
| Jul–Sep 2025 | ¥2.5 |
| Analyst consensus (estimate) | ¥0.13 |
| Jul–Sep 2026 | -¥1.12 |
The deposits were the price of arriving early at a full grid
The writedown is the first booked cost of the AI buildout's earliest bottleneck: getting power. Data centers need power before they need chips, US grids are overwhelmed, and lead times on generation equipment run long, so SoftBank paid ahead, non-refundably, to hold its place in the manufacturing queue 4.
"We made bridge investments in advance to secure power generation equipment in anticipation of shortage," a SoftBank executive said on the earnings call 4. The loss came through Silver Bands 7, a subsidiary SoftBank shares with Vision Fund 2, its second startup-investment fund, and the accounts name the PORTS-Pike campus in Ohio, the site OpenAI has leased for two decades 45.
The hole lands on whoever lent the money
Financing decides who carries a quarter like this. Interest-bearing debt stood at ¥32.59 trillion at end-September 5. The last $10 billion tranche of the OpenAI commitment closed on October 1 58. It was funded by a record junk-bond sale carrying SoftBank's highest-ever coupon, 9.75%, and the firm now borrows instead of selling assets, as it once did with Nvidia−4.64% — Nvidia, down 4.64 percent today and T-Mobile shares, to keep holdings it expects to rise 68.
Credit default swaps, the cost of insuring its debt against default, sit at their highest in years, and the Vision Fund, expected to profit, lost ¥81.6 billion 16. Against the debt sits an OpenAI stake carried at $99.6 billion, unchanged since March 47.
The open question is how much deposit risk is still live
Wednesday's session opens on a question the print cannot answer: one-off, or the first of still-live commitments. Cumulative payments for US power equipment stood at $9.48 billion at end-September, of which $3.7 billion is now written off, and the accounts do not disclose how much of the rest is still at risk 4. The rebate rights SoftBank won in the settlement were booked at nothing because the amount could not be determined 5.
Wednesday's open prices the two things that matter next: whether more of the paid deposits follow Ohio into a writedown, and whether SoftBank books the OpenAI revaluation it says may come in the fiscal third quarter 4. If the campuses are built and leased, the suppliers keep their payments, OpenAI gets its power, and the debt is serviced from assets SoftBank still holds. If the plans slip again, the deposits stay lost, and the stock and the bonds carry the loss.
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