SoftBank Corp shares fell as much as 9.2% on August 20, 2025, following a broader decline in Asian tech stocks after US peers dropped overnight.

The Japanese firm saw its stock slide for a second day after announcing a US$2 billion investment in Intel, even as Intel’s shares rose 7% in US trading.

Other Japanese tech stocks also declined, with Advantest down 6.3%, Renesas Electronics 2.5% lower, and Tokyo Electron down 0.8%.

Tech stocks in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong tracked these losses, partly due to a drop in Nvidia shares overnight.

TSMC fell 1.7% and Foxconn dropped 2.2%.

South Korea’s SK Hynix lost 3.3%, while Samsung Electronics rose 0.8%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Tech index slipped 0.9%, with Kuaishou, JD Health, and Horizon Robotics among the biggest decliners.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ High valuation multiples amplify volatility for growth-focused investors

SoftBank’s dramatic 9% single-day drop reflects the heightened sensitivity that comes with premium valuations in the current market environment.

The company trades at 20.57 times earnings and commands an enterprise value that’s 5.18 times its revenue, meaning investors pay over five dollars for every dollar of SoftBank’s sales1.

This premium pricing makes the stock particularly vulnerable to sentiment shifts, as evidenced by its recent performance: while gaining 74.46% over the past 12 months, it lost 28.83% in just four weeks2.

The company’s price-to-book ratio of 2.15 shows investors are paying more than double its book value, reflecting expectations for continued growth that become harder to justify when broader tech markets decline1.

2️⃣ CHIPS Act funding creates new constraints for global tech investors

The U.S. government’s increasing involvement in semiconductor investments introduces regulatory complexity that affects how global investors like SoftBank can deploy capital.

Recent SoftBank developments