SoftBank Is Selling Off SOFI Stock. Here’s Why.

Advertisement

  • SoftBank (SFTBY) just reported selling 12.06 million shares of SoFi Technologies (SOFI) stock.
  • The multinational conglomerate hinted that it may sell all or some of its remaining 9% stake in the company.
  • SOFI stock is down more than 50% year-to-date (YTD).
SoFi headquarters. SOFI stock.
Source: Michael Vi / Shutterstock

SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) stock is in full focus today after SoftBank (OTCMKTS:SFTBY) reportedly sold off 12.06 million shares, or 12.66% of its position. In an amended 13D filing, the company also hinted that it may sell all or some of its remaining position in SOFI stock.

This news comes after SoFi reported its second-quarter earnings last week. For the period, revenue tallied in at $356 million, beating the $340.8 million analysts had anticipated. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at a loss of 12 cents, also beating an expected loss of 14 cents. Shares of SOFI stock surged higher following earnings.

Despite the positive results, though, SoftBank partially offloaded its position on Aug. 5 and Aug. 8. Let’s get into the details.

SOFI Stock: SoftBank Sells 12.06 Million Shares

On Aug. 5, SoftBank sold 5.38 million shares at an average price of $7.99. Then, on Aug. 8, the company sold another 6.68 million shares at an average price of $8.17. After the sales, SoftBank still owns 83.21 million shares, representing a 9% stake. However, in its 13D filing, the firm said it may “sell some or all of their holdings of Shares of the Issuer [SoFi] in the open market.”

The past year has been extremely difficult for SoftBank. The firm has seen the value of its investments decline drastically. During Q1, the investment company reported a record loss of $23.4 billion. As a result, founder and CEO Masayoshi Son is taking a defensive stance and scaling back on company operations. The CEO explained:

“For SoftBank vision fund, we know we have to reduce operational costs substantially […] Our vision remains the same, our beliefs remain the same. But we know we have to reduce operational costs, including headcount. For new investments, we have to be more selective.”

The firm’s flagship fund, the Vision Fund, approved just $600 million worth of investments during Q1, compared with $20.6 billion a year ago. Meanwhile, the Vision Fund 2 — which has a cost basis of $48.2 billion — shrunk to $37.2 billion as of June 30.

During the quarter, SoftBank also sold off its stakes in Uber (NYSE:UBER) and Opendoor (NASDAQ:OPEN) for a total gain of $5.6 billion. In addition, private investments like ByteDance and Klarna have seen their valuations battered in a difficult market. The company wrote down the valuation of unlisted investments in both the Vision Funds by $8.45 billion in Q1, according to Yahoo! Finance.

On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/08/softbank-is-selling-off-sofi-stock-heres-why/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC