SoftBank shares continue to fall after WeWork bailout
SoftBank shares continued to slide Thursday after the company announced its massive WeWork bailout.
Shares were down another 2.8% in Tokyo, extending earlier losses. The stock closed down 2.5% Wednesday.
SoftBank will pump $5 billion into The We Company and accelerate a $1.5 billion equity investment originally due to the company next year. SoftBank, already WeWork’s largest investor, is also offering to buy up to $3 billion worth of stock from existing investors and shareholders. The Japanese tech company will take ownership of about 80% of WeWork.
Asian stocks were otherwise mixed Thursday, with shares in South Korea edging lower after the country reported weak economic growth.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.6%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 0.5%. But China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.3% in a choppy session.
South Korea’s Kospi also swung between gains and losses. It dipped as much as 0.6%, but then reversed losses and edged up 0.2%.
The South Korean economy grew by 0.4% in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to estimates released by the Bank of Korea on Thursday. That’s less than the 0.5% gain that analysts who were polled by Reuters expected.
Hyundai reported that net profit for the third quarter rose 59% to 427 billion won ($364 million). Still, that was below analyst forecasts, according to Refinitiv data. The stock gained 0.8% in Seoul.
Global sales volumes slowed in the third quarter, mainly dragged by India, China and South Korea. But the US and European markets recorded growth, helping offset the weakness.
SK Hynix, a South Korean chipmaker that is one of the world’s largest, reported a net profit of 495 billion Korean won ($423 million) in the third quarter, an 89% drop compared to a year earlier. But that profit beat analyst estimates, according to Refinitiv data. The company’s stock advanced 1.8% in Seoul.
Futures for the Dow and S&P 500 were flat Thursday during Asian hours, following a higher close on Wall Street. Nasdaq futures ticked higher.
