SoftBank shares taper from 20-year highs, down 2.76 percent

Shares in Japanese technology giant SoftBank tapered Wednesday from 20-year highs on Tuesday.

SoftBank shares had closed 4.6 percent higher at 6,190 yen ($57.56) in Tokyo on Tuesday, its highest point since March, 2000. On Wednesday, however, shares closed at 6,019 yen, down 2.76 percent from the Tuesday highs.

The stock remains up 31 percent so far this year, with its value more than doubling since March, when the coronavirus began to hit global economies.

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The company’s shares have been buoyed from a large 500 billion yen share buyback scheme that it completed in June, with plans for another 2 trillion yen in buyback in place.

In May, the group reported an $8.9 billion annual net loss, with an operating loss of 1.36 trillion yen ($12.6 billion).

The results were a blow for the firm’s flamboyant chief Masayoshi Son, who has transformed what began as a telecoms company into an investment and tech behemoth with stakes in some of Silicon Valley’s hottest startups through its $100-billion Vision Fund.

Son has faced an increasing drumbeat of criticism over his determination to pour money into startups that some analysts say are overvalued and lack clear profit models.

His biggest headache came from office-sharing startup WeWork, which has fallen from favor after initially being hailed as a dazzling unicorn.

With AFP.

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