Canada – 2025/08/07: In this illustrated photo, the SoftBank Group (SoftBank) logo is displayed on the smartphone screen. (Photo illustration: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket, Getty Images)
Sopa Images | Light Rocket | Getty Images
Stocks of Japanese tech investment giants Softbank Group On Thursday, Japanese stocks soared 16.5% amid a broad technology-driven rally. Nikkei Stock Average Soaring to record highs.
As Japanese markets reopened after a long holiday, the names of Japanese technology companies rose as investors scrambled to catch up with a global rally powered by artificial intelligence.
SoftBank is on pace to record its best day since 2020, but if profits can be maintained, chip test equipment maker Advantest Semiconductor equipment suppliers rose nearly 7.8%. Tokyo Electron It soared 9.2%. chip solution provider Renesas Electronics It rose by 13.8%.
Softbank stock since the beginning of the year
The rise came after the Nasdaq Composite Index, which is heavy on Wall Street’s tech stocks, set a new record overnight as U.S. artificial intelligence stocks soared. Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices soared 18.6%, Arm Holdings soared 13%, and server maker Super Micro Computers soared 24.5%.
Billy Leung, investment strategist at Global XETF, said, “Today’s Nikkei 225 movement reflected three trades in one, as Japan was closed for the second half of Golden Week while risk assets around the world plummeted.”
“SPX set a new record and Nasdaq hit new highs during the Tokyo holiday led by semis and AI stocks,” Leong said, adding that Advantest and Tokyo Electron are “the most liquid Japanese companies trading in AI semis.”
He added that oil prices fell on signs of easing tensions between the US and Iran, and easing geopolitical concerns also supported sentiment.
SoftBank’s gains were amplified by Arm’s close relationship with artificial intelligence company OpenAI. “SoftBank is effectively listed as a distributor for OpenAI and Arm,” Leong said.
The move also reflects growing investor optimism about data center infrastructure demand related to AI inference and agent AI systems.
Rolf Balck, head of semiconductors and infrastructure at Futuram Group, said the rise reflected growing optimism about the long-term demand outlook for AI infrastructure.
“I think this is partly due to the continued rally on the back of the strong performance of AI stocks in the US yesterday, and partly in response to AMD’s quarterly report, which has a strong reading for Arm,” Baruch said.
“CPUs are critical to AI inference workloads. CPUs handle agent sandboxes, orchestration servers, databases, and API layers, for example. As demand for inference and agent AI increases, data center CPUs have become one of the key bottlenecks in building AI infrastructure.”
Bulk pointed to AMD’s latest projections that the total addressable market for data center CPUs could reach $120 billion by 2030, growing more than 35% annually.
