New Delhi: Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group has reported its first quarterly net loss in nearly two years as falling valuations of key technology holdings and growing concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) investments weighed on its financial performance.

The company posted a net loss of 1.12 trillion yen ($7.1 billion) in the second quarter of its financial year, reversing a profit recorded in the corresponding period a year earlier. The performance was significantly below market expectations with analysts polled by the company estimating an average profit of 129 billion yen. Declines in the share prices of semiconductor companies Arm Holdings and Intel, along with South Korean e-commerce major Coupang, contributed to the deterioration in SoftBank's financial performance. Its Vision Fund division -- which manages investments in hundreds of technology startups -- also reported a loss of 81.6 billion yen. SoftBank has increasingly emerged as an indicator of investor sentiment towards OpenAI and the broader AI industry, given its substantial exposure to the sector.