SoftBank Swings to $7 Billion Loss on AI Gear Write-Down as Lenskart Surges 6.7x

SoftBank Group plunged into the red with a $7 billion net loss for the September quarter.

The reversal was stark. Just twelve months earlier, Masayoshi Son's technology conglomerate had posted a net profit of approximately $15.7 billion. But aggressive capital commitments collided with balance-sheet adjustments this quarter, hit by an abrupt $3.7 billion write-down on power equipment tied to US artificial intelligence data centres. Compounding the pain, derivative contracts linked to Intel wiped out another $2 billion.

The investment unit bore the brunt. The division slumped to an $840 million loss for the three months ended September, reversing dramatically from a $21.6 billion windfall during the corresponding period last year when earlier marks on OpenAI lifted results.

Yet the bleeding was not uniform across geographies.

Lenskart and Meesho Power India Multiples

India emerged as an operational bright spot, delivering sharp gains that countered the drag from Tokyo's international balance sheet. Lenskart stood out as one of SoftBank’s most lucrative regional bets. The Japanese group's equity in the eyewear retailer stood at roughly $1.5 billion at the end of the quarter, towering over an initial cash outlay of $225 million—a 6.7-times return multiple on invested capital.

E-commerce marketplace Meesho delivered similar upside. SoftBank’s equity position was tagged at $927 million against an entry cost of $285 million, marking a 3.3-times multiple.

Not every bet held its ground.

Ola Electric lagged deeply. SoftBank marked its stake in the electric two-wheeler manufacturer down to roughly $370 million, trailing well behind its original acquisition cost of $556 million to leave the holding underwater at a 0.7-times multiple. Food delivery platform Swiggy hovered at par, valued at approximately $450 million to reflect a flat 1-times investment multiple.

The fund had already locked in liquidity on previous winners. Clean secondary and market sales across its Indian stable yielded realised returns of 3 times on PolicyBazaar, 1.7 times on logistics operator Delhivery, and 1.2 times on food delivery giant Zomato.

The $110 Billion OpenAI Balance Sheet Anchor

Beyond domestic venture stakes, SoftBank's overarching AI wager remained tethered to OpenAI.

Official portfolio disclosures showed SoftBank’s holding in the ChatGPT developer commanded an unrealised fair value of $110 billion as of October 1, 2026. Set against an unrealised cost basis of $65 billion, the position preserves a gross multiple of invested capital of 1.7 times. Fair value across the position was held steady throughout the September quarter without further adjustments.

Market Context: Despite headline quarterly losses driven by physical infrastructure write-downs and derivative shocks, SoftBank's underlying Vision Fund unit logged its strongest operational performance in four years, powered by private market markups and disciplined capital recycling across South Asia.

All eyes across institutional trading desks now turn to the monetization runway for Son's Indian crown jewels. With Lenskart and Meesho compounding at enterprise-level valuation premiums, fund managers are watching for draft prospectus filings to confirm whether SoftBank converts these paper multiples into realized cash distributions over coming quarters.