TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) – Shares in SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) rose 5% in early Friday trade as the tech investor – which is preparing an IPO for chip designer Arm – got caught up in a semiconductor and semi-conductor hype Stocks related to artificial intelligence.
The Japanese conglomerate, suffering from the decline in the value of its technology portfolio, has seen its shares rise 17% since last week’s close.
Still, they’re up just 6.4% year-to-date, compared to 172% for U.S. chipmaker Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) — an expected beneficiary of investments in AI — and 39% for the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index (.SOX). .
On Friday, SoftBank crossed the psychological 6,000 yen mark for the first time since February.
“We have expressed a view that SBG stock will rise during the year ahead of the ARM IPO… However, given the market’s fascination with semi-stocks, we think it makes sense to act early,” Jefferies analyst wrote Atul Goyal issued a note to clients, upgrading its recommendation on the stock to a buy.
Other beneficiaries of the enthusiasm for chip stocks included device makers Advantest Corp (6857.T) and Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T), which are up 109% and 50% year-to-date, respectively.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who argues that the rise of artificial intelligence is driving its investments, is also concerned by the recent hype about generative AI, which proponents liken to the arrival of the internet.
“He feels like ‘It’s finally my time,'” Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank’s chief financial officer, told reporters at an earnings briefing last month.
Reporting by Sam Nussey; Edited by Jacqueline Wong and Christopher Cushing
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