SoftBank To ‘Outperform’ And Its Shares Could Rally 36% Soon: Report
Chris Lane thinks investors haven't realised what Masayoshi Son is trying to do at SoftBank Group Corp.
The Sanford C. Bernstein analyst just initiated coverage of the Japanese company with an “outperform” rating and a forecast that shares could rally 36% over the next year. Investors still see SoftBank as primarily a telecommunications company, he says, even though its core business is investing in technology.
There are similarities to Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the US company led by Warren Buffett, he explains. While Berkshire uses cash from its insurance business to invest in railroads, ice cream shops and Coca-Cola, SoftBank taps cash from its telecoms operations to back startups in ride-hailing, artificial intelligence, e-commerce and robots. Yet SoftBank trades at a discount of m...