SoftBank hits 4-mth high on reports of Intel joining Arm IPO

Investing.com -- Shares of Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp (TYO:9984) rose sharply on Tuesday, buoyed by a report that chipmaker Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is in talks to be an anchor investor in the initial public offering of the tech conglomerate’s Arm unit.

SoftBank jumped over 6% to a four-month high of ¥6,364.0 ($1 = ¥139.53), and were among the best performers on the Nikkei 225 index, which rose nearly 2%.

Multiple reports suggested that Intel is in talks with chip designer Arm to be an anchor investor in the firm’s planned Nasdaq listing. Arm intends to raise between $8 billion and $10 billion, according to media reports from earlier in the year.

Arm’s designs are used by most major global chipmakers, including Intel, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), making the firm a vital member of the semiconductor industry.

Arm is also a key component of SoftBank’s portfolio, being among the few profitable investments held by the firm after a rout in technology stocks battered the firm over the past year.

SoftBank is counting on the cash injection from the Arm IPO to prop up its other ventures, at a time when a steep drop in its technology holdings spurred losses for two consecutive years.

Arm saw strong sales over the prior year, helping negate some of Softbank’s overall losses as the chipmaking industry remained robust.

SoftBank has delayed the Arm IPO several times over the past year, but had filed a confidential listing with U.S. regulators earlier this year.

Arm's IPO could also come as a shot in the arm for U.S. IPOs, which have slowed down in frequency and value so far in 2023 amid pressure from rising interest rates and high inflation.

Semiconductor demand is forecast to expand rapidly this year amid increasing interest in artificial intelligence development. This trend could make Arm an even more profitable venture for SoftBank.