SoftBank Financial News

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder—sometimes a bit too much. Arm got a roaring welcome back to the public market on Thursday. The British chip designer listed its shares on the Nasdaq almost seven years to the day after its acquisition by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank was completed.

Investing.com -- Shares in Arm opened at $56.10 in New York, about 10% above the chip designer's initial public offering of $51.

SoftBank Group Corp.’s Masayoshi Son, whose record on tech investing took a drubbing after flameouts like WeWork and DoorDash Inc. fueled a record $32 billion loss at its Vision Fund arm in the last fiscal year, was determined to turn the tide. So as he and the investment firm’s other top executives met with bankers to plot this week’s initial public offering for Arm Holdings Plc, the focus was making sure the sale would go off without a hitch. They didn’t want any last-minute hiccups with buyers pulling out, they dreaded pushback on the valuation, and, most of all, they wanted to set a price that would almost guarantee the shares would pop on their first day of trading.

chip designer Arm Holdings rose almost 25% in their stock market debut, in the largest initial public offering of shares in nearly two years. The shares opened at $56.10 on the Nasdaq Thursday after having been priced at $51. They closed at $63.59, giving Arm a market value of $68 billion. Most consumers use at least one product that contains Arm's chips, though many people may not be familiar with the company itself.

Arm Holdings may have to wait at least a day before the stock becomes available for shorting, analysts said. Shares in SoftBank's Arm Holdings opened 18% above their offer price in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday, valuing the British chip designer at nearly $60 billion in its return to the public markets after seven years. Short sellers who aim to sell borrowed shares to buy them back at a profit, however, may have to bide their time since the newly-minted shares might not be available to borrow for shorting just yet. Investors can begin selling the shares short as soon as their broker has reasonable grounds to believe that the security can be borrowed — in market parlance, be able to «locate» the shares, said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners. Prime brokers or brokers usually will at least wait until a day after the IPO to give a 'locate' on the shares, to get an idea on how much stock lands in lendable or marginable accounts, Dusaniwsky said. Investors looking to trade in ARM options, another avenue to place bets on the future price of the shares, may have to wait till next week as certain regulatory requirements on trading thresholds have to be met before options exchanges can list contracts on the newly-listed shares. «I have every reason to believe that when ARM options are listed they will be very popular,» said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. Arm shares were last up 15.80% at $59.06.

data eased worries about a recession without raising fears of a Federal Reserve rate hike next week, while Arm Holdings soared in its stock market debut. SoftBank's Arm was valued at nearly $60 billion in a strong Nasdaq debut, with the chip designer's shares soaring nearly 25% in their first day of trading. Retail sales rose more than expected in August on higher gasoline prices, while initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed to a seasonally adjusted 220,000 for the week ended Sept. 9 from 217,000 the week before. Monthly producer prices for final demand rose 0.7% last month, against expectations of a 0.4% increase.

When shares of Arm, the British chip designer, began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange Thursday in the year's biggest initial public offering, investors, tech executives, bankers and startup founders were watching closely for how it performed.

Arm saw its share price jump 20 percent on the first day of trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York on Thursday. Arm, whose semiconductor design is used in most smartphones worldwide, announced earlier this week that it was targeting a valuation of more than $52 billion for its initial public offering (IPO). Its shares opened up 10 percent and continued climbing in early trading, at one point rising 20 percent before settling up closer to 17 percent. Arm's high share price in early trading underscored enthusiasm for tech firms amid elevated interest in artificial intelligence. If Arm's shares close anywhere near its current share price at the end of the first day of trading, it will be valued at closer to $60 billion. The company, which is a world leader in smartphone chip design, is owned by the Japanese tech investor SoftBank, which has had a mixed record of success with its investments in recent years. The IPO of around 10 percent of the company's shares is expected to raise around $5 billion for SoftBank, which will retain ownership of the remaining 90 percent of the company's shares. «I want to keep as much as possible as long as possible,» SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son told CNBC on Thursday. «I'm a long term believer,» he added. Traders are looking at Arm's IPO as a barometer for other tech IPOs, which have stalled in recent years as the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and higher interest rates lowered the appetite for riskier investments. If Arm's IPO does well, other companies may consider going public to raise funds, fueling fresh deal-making in the months ahead.

Nasdaq debut on Thursday, as shares of the chip designer were set to blow past their offer price. Its stock was indicated to open at $60 per American Depositary Share versus the initial public offering (IPO) price of $51. The company had secured a valuation of $54.5 billion on Wednesday after pricing its IPO at the top end of its marketed range. Arm was taken private seven years ago for $32 billion by SoftBank, which has been looking to cash out some of its stake since at least 2020, when it signed a $40 billion deal with chipmaker Nvidia for Arm. The plans, however, were abandoned less than two years later due to regulatory roadblocks. Since then it has pivoted towards an IPO, though that also came with its own hurdles, including run-ins with the British government that was campaigning for a London listing for the chip designer. Arm's return as a public company represents a climb-down from the $64 billion it was valued at last month when the Japanese investment giant acquired the 25% stake it did not directly own from its Vision Fund unit. The IPO fetched $4.87 billion for SoftBank, which still holds a 90.6% stake in Arm, according to a regulatory filing.

In the biggest IPO since 2021, Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM), the renowned chip design firm, will start trading on the Nasdaq today for $51 per share — which prices the company at a hefty $54.5 billion market cap.

U.K. chip designer Arm Holdings is scheduled to start trading on the Nasdaq Thursday, in what is the largest initial public offering of shares in nearly two years

Investing.com -- Investors await the release of fresh economic data on Thursday, as Wall Street considers how a faster-than-anticipated measure of consumer price gains may impact future Federal Reserve policy. Elsewhere, debate swirls around the European Central Bank's own crucial interest rate decision later today, while British semiconductor designer Arm prices its hotly-anticipated initial public offering at the top end of its indicated guidance.

Arm's blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed by 12 times, and could have been priced at $52 per share, above the indicated range of $47 to $51, people familiar with the matter said. But the bankers, who had huddled at the offices of SoftBank's financial advisor Raine Group, argued it was better to leave the additional $1 per share -- equivalent to about $1 billion in value -- on the table. They said doing so could yield a bigger pop when the stock debuts on Nasdaq on Thursday, projecting it could trade between $57 and $62 based on feedback from investors.

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son was in San Francisco on Wednesday when he joined a call with his bankers in New York to make a final decision about his company's most valuable asset: chip designer Arm Holdings. Arm's blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed by 12 times, and could have been priced at $52 per share, above the indicated range of $47 to $51, people familiar with the matter said. But the bankers, who had huddled at the offices of SoftBank's financial advisor Raine Group, argued it was better to leave the additional $1 per share — equivalent to about $1 billion in value — on the table. They said doing so could yield a bigger pop when the stock debuts on Nasdaq on Thursday, projecting it could trade between $57 and $62 based on feedback from investors. Son accepted the banks' recommendation, valuing Arm at $54.5 billion on a fully diluted basis. The behind-the-scenes details on the IPO pricing decision are based on interviews with three people familiar with the discussions.

By Echo Wang and Anirban Sen

Investing.com-- Most Asian stocks rose slightly on Thursday, tracking some strength in Wall Street as markets bet that a recent rise in U.S. inflation will prove insufficient in eliciting more interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

chip designer Arm is targeting a valuation of more than $52 billion for its initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq exchange on Thursday, according to a company press release. Arm, whose semiconductor design is integrated into the vast majority of smartphones worldwide, has priced its shares at $51, the firm announced Wednesday, ahead of the largest IPO New York has seen for almost two years. The company, which is a world leader in smartphone chip design and is owned by the Japanese tech investor SoftBank, has announced it will list on the tech-rich Nasdaq stock exchange under the «ARM» ticker. At $51 per share, Arm's IPO valuation is at the top end of its target range, underscoring the enthusiasm among investors amid an explosion of interest in artificial intelligence. Traders are looking at Arm's IPO as a barometer for other tech IPOs, which have stalled in recent years as the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and higher interest rates lowered the appetite for riskier investments. If Arm's IPO does well, other companies may consider going public to raise funds, fueling fresh deal-making in the months ahead. A number of tech giants including Apple, Google and Nvidia said recently they would be interested in purchasing Arm shares at the share price it has listed. The listing of around 10 percent of the company is expected to raise roughly $5 billion for its owner, SoftBank. SoftBank, which has had mixed success with its investments in recent years, will retain ownership over the remaining 90 percent or so of the company's shares. Among its most high-profile recent failures was the dramatic collapse of the coworking company WeWork amid concerns over corporate governance. Once valued at $47 billion, WeWork is now

Indian stock market is expected to open higher on Thursday following positive global cues. Gains in Asian markets after the US stock indices closed mixed overnight, may support domestic equities. On Wednesday, the domestic equity indices ended higher due to upbeat macroeconomic data amid global signals being subdued.

Birkenstock on Tuesday filed for an initial public offering in the United States, underscoring a pickup in the country's equity markets and becoming the second big European company to seek a foreign listing this month. Its filing with the U.S. securities regulator did not disclose the financial details of the offering, but revealed that net revenue for the six months ended March 31 rose 19% to 644.17 million euros ($692.87 million) and profit fell 45.3% to 40.21 million euros. The German sandal maker's IPO ambitions come hot on the heels of filings by British chipmaker Arm, data automation provider Klaviyo and grocery delivery app Instacart, as equity markets in the U.S.

SoftBank Group Corp.’s semiconductor designer Arm, grocery delivery firm Instacart Inc. and marketing and data automation provider Klaviyo Inc. Founded nearly 250 years ago, Birkenstock developed a contoured insole for greater comfort.

Arm, the chip designer owned by SoftBank Group Corp, received enough backing from investors to secure at least the top end of the price range in its initial public offering, which would command a $54.5 billion valuation on a fully diluted basis, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Reuters had reported on Sunday that this outcome was likely. After reviewing investor commitments on Tuesday, Arm decided it will only accept the top end of its indicated $47-to-$51-per-share range, or a price that is even higher, the source said. Arm may price its IPO above the indicated price range and will decide on how much it will sell its shares for on Wednesday, that source and a second person with knowledge of the matter said.