SoftBank Group (SFTB.Y 0.70%) closed out its calendar 2020 with a bang. The tech conglomerate's Vision Fund, which invests in a wide variety of other companies, boasted its best performance since being launched in 2017.
This was revealed in SoftBank's first-quarter to third-quarter earnings release (the latter quarter ended Dec. 31), which was published on Monday. For the nine-month period, the company's net sales rose by 6% on a year-over-year basis to 4.14 trillion yen ($39.3 billion). Meanwhile, net income more than quadrupled, to 3.10 trillion yen from 656 billion yen in the same period in 2019.
The two entities that comprise Vision Fund contributed significantly to this performance. Combined, the pair saw the value of their investments rise by 2.73 trillion yen ($25.9 billion) during the three quarters.
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SoftBank singled out portfolio companies DoorDash (DASH 1.09%) and Uber Technologies (UBER -0.57%) as particular outperformers during this time. DoorDash launched its initial public offering (IPO) in December and was a big hit with the market -- it now trades 74% above its IPO price. In the third quarter alone, Uber rose at a similar trajectory, thanks in no small part to its strong performance in the food delivery segment.
SoftBank is intimating that it will do even better in the proximate future. CEO Masayoshi Son said that the first Vision Fund, which has backed a myriad of early-stage companies, will experience a "gold rush" as 10 to 20 of those businesses list on the public markets, like DoorDash.
Investors seem impressed by the company's recent past and its future. SoftBank stock was up by nearly 8% in late afternoon trading on Monday.
