SoftBank, Cited Behind US Nasdaq Surge, Sees 8% Stock Plunge in One Day

▲Masayoshi Son, Chairman of SoftBank [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The stock price of SoftBank Group, identified as the driving force behind the sharp rise in the US Nasdaq, experienced a steep decline in just one day on the 7th.

On that day, SoftBank Group's stock price fell by as much as 8% during trading on the Japanese stock market. This is the largest single-day drop since March.

Bloomberg interpreted this as meaning that SoftBank Group's large-scale investment in tech stocks indicates that Chairman Masayoshi Son (Son Jeong-ui) has embarked on a risky attempt in an unfamiliar area, which has stirred investor anxiety.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and CNBC reported on the 4th (local time), citing sources, that SoftBank Group was revealed to be the "big player in Nasdaq" who recently purchased stock options worth billions of dollars linked to IT company stocks.

According to documents submitted by SoftBank to regulatory authorities, the company bought approximately $4 billion (about 4.75 trillion KRW) worth of stocks this spring, including Amazon, Microsoft (MS), Netflix, and Tesla.

WSJ reported that SoftBank also purchased call options linked to stocks in a similar amount, and the potential losses from these transactions could reach about $50 billion. A call option is the right to buy stocks at a predetermined price on or before the expiration date.

Combining SoftBank Group's stock and derivative purchases, the total amounts to about $8 billion (approximately 9.5 trillion KRW).

SoftBank Group has not issued an official statement regarding this matter.

However, Bloomberg reported that SoftBank Group had previously announced in August that it would launch an organization for trading listed stocks. This represents a departure from its previous investment approach, which focused mainly on unlisted startups.

Meanwhile, tech stocks, which had been leading the rise in the US stock market, have shown signs of instability recently, with Apple's stock price dropping 8.01% in a single day on the 3rd.

In particular, Tesla, considered one of SoftBank Group's investment targets, is facing additional stock price declines as it was excluded from the new S&P 500 constituent list announced by the index committee on the 4th, contrary to expectations that it would soon be included in the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index, a major US stock market index.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.