SoftBank’s Q1 earnings beat expectations, and the core reason is that its investments in $INTCB have an unrealized gain of $8.2 billion. At this point it’s worth keeping an eye on—Intel’s share price is still struggling at low levels, yet SoftBank can make so much off its books. That suggests its original acquisition cost was low enough. Looking back at SoftBank’s positioning in tech stocks over the past few years, it definitely timed its moves better than chasing after hype. However, an unrealized gain is not the same as cashing out. If SoftBank is really going to realize it, it will depend on whether Intel can maintain the momentum in its process technology catch-up.