Japan Stock of the Day | Kabutaro & Friends

On August 19, 2026, the most talked-about Japanese stock online was SoftBank Group <9984>.
Background: The Wall Street Journal's online edition reported on the morning of August 19 Japan time that OpenAI, a key investment holding of the company, posted April-June revenue of 6.7 billion dollars, up 18% from 5.7 billion dollars in January-March. The slowdown at a firm valued on assumptions of rapid expansion triggered concentrated selling in SoftBank Group, its major shareholder. Adding to the pressure, Nikkei's online edition reported on August 18 that the company is preparing a bond issuance for retail investors worth roughly 1 trillion yen — the largest retail bond ever by a Japanese company, with a seven-year maturity and an interest rate seen in the high 4% range, with terms to be finalized in early September. Proceeds are expected to cover redemption of existing bonds as well as AI-related investment, but the plan raised concerns over a growing long-term interest burden and overinvestment in AI infrastructure. A drop of more than 6% in subsidiary Arm Holdings on the U.S. market the previous day added to the selling pressure. The stock fell as much as 454 yen (-7.78%) to 5,376 yen intraday and closed down 603 yen (-10.34%) at 5,227 yen, single-handedly dragging the Nikkei down by roughly 485 points.