SoftBank overtakes Toyota to become Japan's most valuable company

SoftBank Group Corp. has overtaken Toyota Motor Corp. as Japan's most valuable company as on Monday, June 1, marking another milestone for the Masayoshi Son-owned company, that has capitalized on the ongoing AI boom.

Shares of SoftBank are up another 12% on Monday, and have gained in six out of the last eight trading sessions. The stock has gained 66% during these eight trading sessions.

SoftBank shares have been on a tear since the news of two of its portfolio companies - OpenAI and SB Energy Corp. looking to go public in the US broke out.

With this move, SoftBank shares are up over 80% so far in 2026, pushing the company's market capitalization past 46 trillion Yen or $288 billion, surpassing Toyota's 45.8 trillion Yen.

In contrast to SoftBank's 80% surge this year, Toyota's shares are down over 10% for the same period, including a 4% drop on Monday as well.

The contrast seen between Japan's biggest companies shows the change in investor preference towards the AI theme and the companies associated with it, while the auto sector continues to grapple with the geopolitical tensions and macro headwinds.

In case these gains hold through close, SoftBank would have surpassed Toyota in market capitalization terms for the first time in over two-and-a-half decades, with the last instance only being a brief period at the height of the dotcom bubble in 2000.