SoftBank Group shares surged 15% on strong buying interest, capping a stretch of aggressive dealmaking that has repositioned the Japanese investment giant as one of the world’s largest backers of artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The OpenAI anchor
In February 2026, SoftBank announced a follow-on investment of $30 billion in OpenAI through its Vision Fund 2, aimed at pushing SoftBank’s ownership stake in the ChatGPT maker to roughly 13%.
The first $10 billion tranche of that commitment was executed on April 1, 2026. To fund the deal and other capital-intensive plays, SoftBank secured a $40 billion bridge facility agreement in March 2026, giving it the financial runway to keep writing oversized checks without immediately diluting existing shareholders or liquidating other positions.
Analysts have directly linked the stock rally to OpenAI’s growth trajectory and what they describe as an improved balance sheet outlook for SoftBank.
