SoftBank's Surprise Loss: What's Next?

SoftBank Group Corp is going through a tough time financially, and the situation has been made even more uncertain with the CEO, Masayoshi Son, missing the earnings call for the first time.

Analysts had expected SoftBank to make a profit in the quarter ending June 30, thanks to selling some Alibaba stock and gains in other tech stocks. But instead, the company reported a surprising loss of ¥477.6 billion ($3.3 billion) for the second quarter, mainly due to drops in the share prices of Alibaba, Deutsche Telekom, and T-Mobile.

There was some good news, as the SoftBank Vision Fund reported gains of ¥159.8 billion ($1.1 billion) after five straight quarters of losses. However, these gains were mostly related to the company's investments in its subsidiaries, especially the UK chipmaker Arm, which is about to go public.

Son's absence from the earnings call and the delayed public offering of Arm have made investors nervous. Some even think the public offering might be postponed until 2024, which would be a blow to SoftBank, as it could have brought in over $8 billion.

People are also talking about the different approaches of Son and the company's CFO, Yoshimitsu Goto. While Son is known for taking risks, Goto is seen as more careful and steady, which may be what SoftBank needs right now.

SoftBank's shares have gone up 12% this year, helped by the company buying back its own shares and selling some assets. But the company's road to recovery is still uncertain, and it looks like the outcome of Arm's public offering, along with Goto's leadership, will be crucial in the coming months.