SoftBank shares surged 16.5% on Thursday, marking their best day since 2020, as Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed to record highs amid a global rally in artificial intelligence-related technology stocks [1]. The Japanese market's strong performance followed an extended holiday closure, with investors reacting to significant gains in U.S. tech stocks, particularly those linked to AI. Advantest, a chip-testing equipment maker, rose nearly 7.8%, Tokyo Electron, a semiconductor equipment supplier, jumped 9.2%, and Renesas Electronics, a chip solutions provider, advanced 13.8% [1].
The rally was spurred by overnight records set by the Nasdaq Composite, driven by surges in U.S. AI-linked stocks such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (up 18.6%), Arm Holdings (up 13%), and Super Micro Computer Inc. (up 24.5%) [1]. According to Billy Leung, investment strategist at Global X ETFs, the Nikkei's move reflected the market catching up with three sessions of global gains, especially in semiconductors and AI names, after being closed for the latter part of Golden Week [1]. Leung also noted that Advantest and Tokyo Electron are key Japanese proxies for the AI semiconductor trade, and that easing geopolitical concerns, including falling oil prices due to de-escalation between the U.S. and Iran, further boosted market sentiment [1].
SoftBank's outsized gains were attributed to its close ties with Arm Holdings and OpenAI, positioning it as a listed proxy for both companies [1]. The rally also reflected growing investor optimism about long-term demand for AI infrastructure, particularly data center CPUs, which are increasingly seen as bottlenecks in AI system build-outs [1]. Rolf Bulk, head of semiconductor and infrastructure at The Futurum Group, highlighted that the rally was partly a continuation of strong AI-related share performance in the U.S. and a reaction to AMD's quarterly report, which has positive implications for Arm [1]. Bulk cited AMD's forecast that the total addressable market for datacenter CPUs could reach $120 billion by 2030, growing at more than 35% annually [1].
CONCLUSION
SoftBank and other Japanese tech stocks experienced significant gains as the Nikkei 225 reached record highs, driven by global enthusiasm for AI-related equities and strong U.S. market performance. The rally underscores investor optimism about the long-term growth prospects for AI infrastructure and related technologies.