SoftBank Group (OTCMKTS:SFTBY) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

SoftBank Group Corp. Unsponsored ADR (OTCMKTS:SFTBY)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $11.80, but opened at $12.38. SoftBank Group shares last traded at $12.23, with a volume of 274,398 shares trading hands.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on SFTBY. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of SoftBank Group in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of SoftBank Group in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of SoftBank Group in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SoftBank Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Key SoftBank Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting SoftBank Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PayPay raised about $880 million in its U.S. IPO, giving SoftBank a path to monetize an affiliate and crystallize value from its ecosystem investments. SoftBank’s PayPay set for hotly anticipated Nasdaq debut after raising $880 million
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded SoftBank to “hold”, a mild vote of confidence that may limit further downside from negative headlines. Zacks Research upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on SoftBank, increasing analyst attention and potentially improving liquidity in coverage and investor dialogue. Coverage Initiated at Cantor Fitzgerald
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies downgraded SoftBank to “Underperform”, explicitly flagging rising valuation and structural risks from SoftBank’s expanding funding and concentrated exposure to OpenAI; this downgrade likely pressured the share price. SoftBank downgraded by Jefferies on rising risks tied to OpenAI investment
• Negative Sentiment: PayPay priced its IPO below the marketed range at $16 per share and raised ~$879.8M — the below-range pricing (cited across reports) signals weaker demand and reduces the mark-up SoftBank might have hoped for from the listing, weighing on perceived asset values. Market jitters tied to geopolitical tension were cited as a factor. SoftBank’s PayPay prices IPO below range at $16 a share PayPay prices IPO below marketed range

SoftBank Group Trading Down 7.0%

The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.48 and its 200-day moving average is $15.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $127.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.46.

SoftBank Group (OTCMKTS:SFTBY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.04. SoftBank Group had a net margin of 48.62% and a return on equity of 23.66%. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.44 billion. Analysts predict that SoftBank Group Corp. Unsponsored ADR will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

SoftBank Group Company Profile

SoftBank Group Corp is a Tokyo‐based multinational conglomerate holding company with a primary focus on technology, telecommunications and investment management. Founded in 1981 by Masayoshi Son, the company initially operated as a software distributor before expanding into mobile communications and internet services. Over the years, SoftBank has built a diversified portfolio that spans telecom operators, semiconductor design, cloud computing, and emerging technology ventures.

A key pillar of SoftBank’s strategy is its investment arm, the SoftBank Vision Fund, which targets high‐growth technology companies around the globe.