SoftBank’s seeing a ray of sunshine on the horizon. On Tuesday, the Japanese tech giant’s stocks shot up a neat 3%, painting the town red in financial circles. Why, you ask? Their chip-designing prodigy, Arm, just threw its hat in the ring, gunning for a splashy debut on the Nasdaq.
Late Monday, Arm let the cat out of the bag: they’ve chatted up the bigwigs at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), aiming for a cozy spot on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The specifics? They’re keeping mum on that – no word yet on how many shares or the price tag.
Now, here’s the tea: SoftBank’s journey with Arm’s listing has been bumpier than a roller coaster. Remember that whopping $40 billion Arm sale to Nvidia that crashed and burned over some pesky antitrust issues? Yep, that’s the one.
SoftBank’s been playing the waiting game, taking its sweet time to announce when Arm would hit the market. But who can blame them? With the AI buzz growing louder, it’s the perfect storm for Arm to make its mark. Big players like Apple and Nvidia are already cozy with Arm’s designs, and every chip they sell rings SoftBank’s cash register.
This Nasdaq debut? It’s just the shot in the arm SoftBank needs. Despite its stock’s recent wild ride and six back-to-back quarters in the red, thanks to some pesky rising interest rates, Arm’s been the silver lining in SoftBank’s cloudy skies. But, like any story, there’s a twist. Even Arm’s been having a bit of a rainy day, posting a loss in the last quarter.
Chips aren’t all sunshine and rainbows right now. Heavy hitters in the chip world, like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, are hinting at some stormy weather ahead. Yet, with Arm’s listing, SoftBank might just find its pot of gold. Word on the street is they’re looking to sell about a tenth of Arm’s shares. The price tag? A cool $60 to $70 billion. Not to mention, they’ve scooped back a juicy 25% of Arm from their Saudi pals at Vision Fund.
So, in the grand scheme of things? SoftBank’s dance card’s looking pretty full, and the future? Well, it might just be as bright as a penny!
