OpenAI shortfall pressures SoftBank and Oracle shares

Shares of major partners linked to OpenAI came under pressure on Tuesday after a report indicated the company recently missed targets for sales and user growth, raising concerns about broader expectations in the artificial intelligence sector ahead of earnings.

The AI startup’s slower-than-expected performance has unsettled investors, prompting declines in related stocks. Shares of SoftBank Group and Oracle Corporation both dropped in premarket trading, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

SoftBank shares fell as much as 11% in Tokyo, marking the company’s steepest single-day percentage decline in six months.

Other firms closely associated with OpenAI also saw losses, including Advanced Micro Devices, which dropped around 3%, CoreWeave, down 3.5%, Nvidia, which slipped 1%, and Oracle, which declined 4.4%.

SoftBank, which holds an estimated 11% stake in OpenAI, was particularly affected by the negative sentiment.

Although OpenAI has partnerships with dozens of companies, markets tend to focus on a smaller group of key collaborators—such as Nvidia, SoftBank, Oracle, Microsoft, CoreWeave, and AMD—as proxies for exposure to the maker of ChatGPT.

Investors are now closely monitoring whether technology companies will maintain their previously announced plans for significant capital expenditures aimed at expanding AI infrastructure. “That’s what the market needs to see to keep the AI narrative intact,” said Amanda Lyons, head of research at Energy Group Capital, in comments to Bloomberg.

She added that the situation remains delicate, noting that any indication of reduced spending could be viewed negatively for the sector, while a sharp increase in investment might raise concerns about returns and long-term sustainability.

A basket of companies tied to OpenAI has recently underperformed its peers, gaining about 75% since the end of 2024, compared with gains exceeding 300% for a similar group of stocks linked to Alphabet Inc., according to the report.

The company, led by Sam Altman, reportedly missed several monthly sales targets in 2026 as rival Anthropic made advances in coding and enterprise markets, further intensifying competitive pressures.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev