Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank announced a 500 billion yen ($3.42 billion) share repurchase programme in the first-quarter financial results.
The announcement comes after famed activist investor Elliott Advisors built a minority stake in SoftBank, which owns British microchip giant Arm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:ARM), in order to influence its shareholder return policy.
Whether the $3.4 billion announcement will keep Elliott happy remains to be seen; the firm has been pushing for a $15 billion buyback package, according to earlier reports.
The last share repurchase programme on SoftBank’s records was conducted nearly two years ago, when the group bought back 400 billion yen worth of shares between October and November 2022.
Softbank also managed to post a $3.8 billion group-wide investment gain in the first quarter, compared to a $4.8 billion loss in the first quarter of 2023.
Its flagship Vision Fund saw a $221 million investment gain.
Profit before tax across all segments came to $1.54 billion, though a sizeable income tax hit culminated in a $1.2 billion net loss attributable to owners.
Dollar-based net sales in the Arm segment increased 46.6% year on year in the period, “driven by the highest-ever license and other revenue and strong royalty revenue”.