Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

naked shortsellers: Go panice first!

There is no publicly available data on the exact percentage stake of Rakuten in the online marketplace platform Carousell for October 2026. Although Rakuten (mainly through its investment arm Rakuten Ventures) is one of the earliest and most important investors in Carousell – having led, among others, the seed round (2013), the Series B round (2016), and co-led the Series C round (2018) – the exact ownership stakes of the individual venture capital investors have never been fully disclosed. What is known is that after a merger in 2019, the Telenor Group became the largest external minority shareholder of Carousell with around 32%. Since then, other major investors like Naver and STIC Investments have joined, which has affected the shares of the earlier ones.

You should have bought before the shortsquezze will start.

Rakuten Securities decides to offer products with zero (free) trust fees!
- Expanded lineup of exclusive products for 'Kodomo NISA', coming soon –

October 9, 2026

Rakuten Securities has officially announced the launch of a new lineup of exclusive investment trust products featuring "zero trust fees" (0.00% per year).

This move directly responds to the fierce competition in Japan's retail brokerage sector as platforms prepare for the launch of the new "Child NISA" (Kodomo NISA) program set to begin in January 2027.

Key Details of the Announcement
         •§Target Program: These zero-fee investment trusts are designed exclusively for the upcoming Child NISA account type.
         •§The Fee Structure: The core management fee, known as the trust fee, will be set to 0.00%. This effectively eliminates the ongoing management cost usually deducted from the fund's net asset value.
         •§Market Context: This announcement follows a similar competitive move by its main rival, SBI Securities, which earlier unveiled its own 0.00% trust fee product called the "SBI Zero All Country Index Fund" (nicknamed "Zero-Can").

About the New Child NISA (Starting 2027)
The revamped tax-free savings program expands wealth-building options for children aged 17 and under:
• Annual Investment Limit: Up to 600,000 yen per year.
• Lifetime Limit: A maximum tax-free holding limit of 6 million yen per child.
• Holding Period: Unlimited tax-free holding duration, with assets automatically transitioning to an adult NISA once the child turns 18.

The most important facts about ShopBack's valuation, the connections with Rakuten, and the current status in October 2026:

Current valuation of ShopBack (October 2026)

• Unicorn status in the private market: The official valuation of the ShopBack Group remains around 1.4 billion USD. This figure is mainly based on the last major Series F funding rounds (led, among others, by 65 Equity Partners [Temasek] and the Australian Westpac Banking Corporation).

• Potential IPO: The company recorded revenue growth of over 30% in the fiscal year ending March 2026 and achieved six consecutive quarters of adjusted EBITDA profitability. ShopBack is actively talking to banks (such as Macquarie Capital) and is reportedly preparing for an IPO on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

The role of Rakuten in ShopBack

• Early Investor: Rakuten Capital came on board in April 2019 as a co-lead investor (together with EV Growth) in a $45 million round for ShopBack. Since then, Rakuten has held significant stakes and even has a member on ShopBack’s Board of Directors, Amit Patel (CEO of Ebates/Rakuten).

• Direct Business Partnerships: Beyond just investing, the two platforms work closely together. For example, the travel portal Rakuten Travel is integrated as a major affiliate partner directly into ShopBack’s system, so users can earn cashback on Rakuten bookings through ShopBack.

The debt and financial metrics for the Rakuten Group's non-FinTech segment improved significantly over the course of 2026. Management is following a strict deleveraging strategy to reduce the debt burden from the costly mobile network build-out.

Non-FinTech Debt Metrics (as of October 2026

• Leverage ratio (Net financial debt / EBITDA):
The leverage ratio for the non-FinTech sector was 6.2x in June 2026.
The official target for the full year 2026 is around 6.0x.
By December 2027, a target of 5.0x or lower is planned.

• Net debt: The group’s net financial debt stands at about 8 billion USD. The average interest rate (coupon) on the bonds, mainly denominated in USD, is between 4.5% and 5.0%.

At the Network X conference in Vienna, Vodafone Group Ventures Director Tim Boddy questioned whether SpaceX could replicate its U.S. wireless strategy in Europe. "It's not obvious to me that SpaceX would do the same in Europe as it did in the U.S.," he said, citing differences in spectrum markets and regulation, as well as Europe's low mobile prices.

Boddy is also vice chairman of Satellite Connect Europe, Vodafone's joint venture with AST. He said that the venture's core network and radio infrastructure are on the ground in Europe and controlled by the Luxembourg-based company. GSM Association chief regulatory officer John Giusti also rejected the idea that satellites would replace mobile networks: "I don't anticipate it doing that."

Financial Development of the Advertising Business 2026

Rakuten's advertising segment has shown strong growth momentum so far in 2026:
• Q2 2026: JPY 65.6 billion (+15.6% YoY)
• Q1 2026: JPY 61.9 billion (+13.0% YoY)

Key Growth Drivers in the Ecosystem

• AI Integration: Rakuten attributes the revenue increase mainly to AI-powered search functions and personalized banner ads on platforms like Rakuten Ichiba and Rakuten Travel.

• Data Utilization: Linking user data from the mobile sector (Rakuten Mobile DPI data) optimizes ad delivery across the entire group.

Rakuten Group Overall Assessment (as of October 2026) - Undervalued

• Market Capitalization: Rakuten Group is currently valued on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at about 9.04 billion USD.

• Revenue Multiple: The entire group is trading at a historically low revenue multiple of around 0.8x. The company's twelve-month revenue amounts to about 17 billion USD with an EBITDA of around 3 billion USD.

The fact that the market values the Rakuten Group so conservatively despite record revenues is mainly due to the historical burden from the mobile business, where, however, a turning point is now occurring:

• The turning point at Rakuten Mobile: The MNO segment (mobile) has been the primary loss-maker for years and has heavily weighed on the balance sheets. In 2026, however, the mobile division is seeing continuously decreasing losses and is moving towards operational profitability (EBITDA break-even).

• Strong cash-generating segments: The core business in e-commerce (Rakuten Ichiba) and the highly profitable fintech segment (Rakuten Bank, Rakuten Securities, Rakuten Pay) are growing steadily at double-digit rates and easily absorb the remaining mobile investments.

• First net profits in years: In the summer of 2026, the Rakuten Group reported its first consolidated net profit in six years. This shows that the operating leverage of the ecosystem is finally taking effect.

Conclusion & Analyst Consensus:  Since the major investment phases in infrastructure expansion are complete and the customer base remains strongly tied to the ecosystem through the cross-selling points system, financial analysts mostly rate the stock as a "Buy." The average analyst price target is around 890 JPY, which compared to the current price level (about 630 JPY) implies significant upside potential of over 35%.

My own price target for the end of 2027 is 1500 JPY and my price target for the end of 2028 is 2000 JPY.

The 24/7 Wall St. price target for AST SpaceMobile is $87.68 over the next 12 months.

finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/...l-170055856.html

The 24/7 Wall St. price target for AST SpaceMobile is $87.68 over the next 12 months.

finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/...l-170055856.html

Available on Rakuten Pay and K's Denki Online Shop

October 14, 2026

Rakuten Payment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Rakuten Payment") announces that the cashless payment service "Rakuten Pay"  will be available for use starting today at the online shop "K's Denki Online Shop" operated by K's Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "K's Holdings").

With this implementation, users can now pay with "Rakuten Pay" at the K's Denki Online Shop, and receive up to 1.5% "Rakuten Points" back on the payment amount. You can also use 'Rakuten Points' for payment.

Since March 2019, K's Holdings has introduced "Rakuten Pay" at K's Denki stores, deepening its collaboration with the Rakuten Group. By introducing "Rakuten Pay" to the K's Denki Online Shop, we aim to further enhance user convenience.

payment.rakuten.co.jp/news/2026101400/

Rakuten Securities to completely waive US stock margin trading fees and day trading interest and stock lending fees
- Domestic settlements from November 4, 2026~. Lower-cost U.S. stocks ahead of the 23-hour start in December

www.rakuten-sec.co.jp/web/company/newsrelease/

Rakuten Securities officially announced on October 15, 2026, that it will completely waive fees for U.S. stock margin trading, day trading interest, and stock lending fees. This program will apply to all account holders automatically with no application required, beginning with domestic settlements on November 4, 2026 (covering orders executed from 6:00 PM JST on November 2, 2026).

This aggressive cost-cutting measure is designed to give retail investors a highly competitive, low-cost trading environment ahead of the major transition to 23-hour U.S. stock trading scheduled for December 6, 2026 (U.S. local time).

Rakuten Securities adds automatic withdrawal function for bond interest - Automatic transfer of domestic and foreign bond interest to pre-registered financial institutions for improved convenience

October 14, 2026

www.rakuten-sec.co.jp/web/company/newsrelease/

Rakuten Securities has launched a new automatic payout feature for bond interest. With this service, interest income from domestic and foreign bonds is automatically transferred to a pre-registered bank account, making things much more convenient for investors.

Here's a quick overview of how it works and the benefits:

• Automatic transfer: Interest payments from domestic and foreign bonds no longer need to be handled manually.

• Direct to bank account: The money goes straight to your registered financial institution.
Time-saving: All the manual work of managing interest income is completely eliminated.

• Better liquidity: Earnings are immediately available in your main bank account for everyday expenses or other investments.

network.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/en/

On Friday, October 16, 2026, Rakuten Group Inc. successfully completed its largest issuance of yen-denominated bonds to date.

• Total volume: 400 billion yen (~$2.5 billion), divided into a tranche for retail investors (360 billion yen) and a tranche for institutional investors (40 billion yen).

• Coupon & maturity: The 5.5-year unsecured bonds (due April 28, 2032) were issued with a fixed annual interest rate of 4.37%.

• Subscription period: Retail investors can subscribe to the bonds in lots starting from 1 million yen from October 19 to October 28, 2026. The payment date is October 29, 2026.

• Rating: The rating agency Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) preliminarily rated this issuance A-.

"Large infrastructure programs involving thousands of sites, materials and distributed field teams are constantly changing," said Vivek Murthy, President, OSS at Rakuten Symphony. "Site Management 3.0 introduces agentic AI that adapts in real time to help operators reallocate resources, resolve issues before they become delays and keep projects moving."

New capabilities in Rakuten Site Management 3.0 include:
         •§AI Agents and an Assistants that turn natural-language requests into actionable work—helping users create, prioritize, and manage tasks faster.
         •§Autonomous Agent Orchestration (preview), uses AI agents to deliver self-healing project execution, proactively identifying schedule deviations, resource conflicts, and workflow bottlenecks and triggering recommended or automated remediation.
         •§Generative AI-powered dashboards that replace static reporting and deliver role-specific insights for project managers, field engineers and executives.
         •§Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integration (preview), allowing operational data to be securely consumed by enterprise AI application workflows and third-party AI agents.

"We are fundamentally changing the role of the infrastructure project manager from a reactive coordinator to a strategic supervisor," said Arun Nair, Senior Vice President, Site Management Solutions at Rakuten Symphony. "By embedding agentic AI directly into the project workflow, our platform now anticipates bottlenecks and autonomously navigates the complexities of site deployment. We aren’t just giving teams more data; we are giving them a force multiplier that allows them to scale their operations without scaling their headcount."

The release builds on the AI capabilities introduced in Rakuten Site Management 2.0, including intelligent forecasting, AI-powered site audits and workflow optimization, automated document data extraction and RFDS design automations. These capabilities give operators real-time visibility across distributed infrastructure projects while reducing manual effort and improving execution.

Rakuten Site Management has been deployed by leading communications service providers, including Rakuten Mobile and a Tier 1 North American operator, delivering up to 60% faster site builds and deployment accuracy of up to 99%. By integrating our extensive expertise in telecommunications and related infrastructure with AI technology, Rakuten Symphony will continue to lead the development of next-generation infrastructure operation models, serving as a partner that accelerates our customers' business transformation.

symphony.rakuten.com/newsroom/...ructure-lifecycle-management

AI Leadership and Accountability Panel AI-Native Telco Forum 2026

September 29, 2026

Recorded live at the AI-Native Telco Forum 2026 in Düsseldorf, Germany, this strategic panel explores one of the most important questions facing telecom leaders today: Who owns AI transformation? As AI initiatives move beyond pilots and into large-scale deployments, operators must establish clear leadership, accountability, and financial ownership to ensure measurable business outcomes. The discussion examines whether dedicated C-suite AI roles drive better results, how organizations can create board-level accountability, and what it takes to build a compelling business case for AI investment.

Panelists
• Vivek Chadha, Chief Growth and Marketing Officer, Rakuten Symphony
• Abir Hossain, Vice President, Technology Strategy & Operations Development, Elisa
• Ari Banerjee, Chief Strategy Officer, Netcracker Technology
• Karim Kotobi, Senior Manager, Digital Product and Transformation, Vodafone
• Pascal Prot, CEO, Legos - Local Exchange Global Operation Services
• Selenga Akiner, EMEA Regional Partner Manager, Telecom Systems Business, Dell Technologies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bktIehhv6g

Rakuten sells record ¥400 billion of bonds on retail demand

Rakuten Group priced ¥400 billion ($2.5 billion) of yen-denominated bonds on Friday, including debt aimed at individual investors, in its largest-ever yen bond sale.

The 5.5-year bonds carry a 4.37% coupon and were priced at a spread of 200 basis points over the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond, with ¥360 billion sold to retail investors and ¥40 billion to institutional investors.

Rakuten returned to a quarterly net profit in the April-June period for the first time in six years, though its mobile business remains in the red. It faces substantial bond redemptions from 2027 onward and has said it plans to meet its funding needs through a range of measures, including bond issuance in Japan and overseas and asset monetization.

According to Daiwa Securities, a lead manager, the institutional tranche was initially marketed at 170-180 basis points over government bonds but priced at 200 basis points amid heavy supply and widening spreads in the secondary market. Final demand was about 1.3 times the issue size.

www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/10/16/...en-yen-bond-sale/

In October 2026, the European streaming platform Rakuten TV made headlines with a major international expansion outside of Europe. CEO Cédric Dufour announced in mid-October at the MIPCOM TV fair in Cannes that the Barcelona-based service is bringing its free, ad-supported streaming channels (FAST) into new strategic markets through its subsidiary Rakuten TV Enterprise:

• US: Launch with exclusive, in-house movie channels like Rakuten TV Comedy and Rakuten TV Action on the TCLtv+ app.

• Middle East: Introduction of Rakuten TV Top Movies and Rakuten TV Action (English movies with local subtitles) in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia via TCL and LG platforms.

• Japan: Here, Rakuten TV mainly acts as a technical service provider to integrate FAST channels into the local R Channels platform of the parent company Rakuten Group.

For users in the German-speaking region, the classic offering remains: A mix of free, ad-supported channels (FAST), free content (AVOD), and the latest blockbusters to rent or buy (TVOD).

Potential international listing of Rakuten Bank much easier

The restructuring that came into effect on October 1, 2026, makes a potential international listing much easier. The Rakuten Group has reorganized its FinTech business and placed the profitable units Rakuten Card and Rakuten Securities as consolidated subsidiaries directly under the already Tokyo-listed Rakuten Bank.

Although the original plans and market rumors for a strategic US listing primarily focused on the massive credit card business (Rakuten Card), the new corporate structure brings huge advantages for a US listing of the expanded FinTech group.

Why the US IPO is now easier:

• Combined financial strength & scalability: Instead of independent individual entities, the FinTech segment now operates as an integrated, bank-led financial conglomerate. US investors prefer highly scalable ecosystems with clear synergies (e.g., cross-selling through data and AI integration).

• Independent Corporate Governance: Spinning off and consolidating under Rakuten Bank reduces direct dependence and financial entanglement with the tech parent company Rakuten Group, which in the past was burdened by losses in the mobile business. This clear separation of risks boosts attractiveness and regulatory compliance in US markets.

• Optimized Capital Structure: Since major banks like Mizuho Bank have also become major shareholders of Rakuten Bank, the setup has institutional stability according to global standards.

Bringing together the revenue drivers under Rakuten Bank creates the necessary scale and operational transparency needed for a leap to a US stock exchange (like the NYSE or Nasdaq).

Rakuten Symphony's momentum in Latin America has picked up significantly, anchored by major operator engagements and a localized partner ecosystem designed to scale Open RAN, AI, and autonomous network solutions:

1. VIVA Bolivia Site Modernization Program
In August 2026, Rakuten Symphony signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with VIVA Bolivia (Nuevatel PCS) for a phased digital transformation.
• The Project: VIVA kicked off the first phase of this multi-million dollar technology program to modernize 200 mobile network sites across Bolivia.
• The Tech: Rakuten Symphony is providing cloud-native Open RAN technology and orchestration expertise. The goal is to phase out rigid legacy telecom architectures, allowing VIVA to scale operations efficiently and easily roll out new digital services.

2. Regional Partner Ecosystem Expansion
Because Latin American mobile network operators (MNOs) face unique infrastructure constraints, Rakuten Symphony relies heavily on regional integration partners to execute rollouts:
• Sunset Technologies: Rakuten Symphony partnered with Sunset Technologies in mid-2026 to focus heavily on driving cloud-native automation and orchestration to lower operational costs for regional MNOs.
• Isbel (Quantik Group): Serving as a value-added reseller and primary Level-1 support engine, Isbel handles business development and localized technical implementations across key expansion markets like Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

3. Futurecom 2026 & AI Integration
At Futurecom 2026 in São Paulo, Brazil, Rakuten Symphony actively pushed its "Intelligent Growth" framework for Latin America. Leveraging data from its live, highly automated Rakuten Mobile network in Japan, the company demonstrated how LATAM MNOs can utilize AI-driven network automation and its RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) to manage complex multi-vendor systems and reduce churn. This ties directly into a Global South grant initiative from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which funds extensive commercial testing of AI/Machine Learning network optimization tools across Latin America.

Customer satisfaction (churn rate) Since Rakuten advertises with aggressive pricing (like the Saikyo Plan), customers react extremely sensitively to deteriorations in connection quality.  

• Focus on coverage quality: The sudden loss of the au network (KDDI) in the 800 MHz band in cities forces all data traffic onto Rakuten's own network. If there are bottlenecks or dead zones, a wave of churn to competitors' budget brands (like KDDI's povo) is likely.

Investor conclusion
The 'amputation' of the roaming safety net in cities accelerates Rakuten's path to independent profitability. If the transition succeeds without significant quality losses, it will sustainably preserve cash reserves. Investors should mainly watch the development of ARPU (most recently at 2) in the upcoming quarterly figures. (last at 2,516 yen) and paying attention to the net subscriber growth to see if customers remain loyal despite the changed network plan.

The Class A Non-Voting Shares of Rakuten Bank were issued as part of the Rakuten Group's major fintech restructuring.
Here's a summary of the structure, valuation, and strategic background:

1. Valuation & Economic Parity
• 1:1 Link: The ongoing economic rights of the said Class A Non-Voting Shares are completely identical to those of the common shares listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE:5838). The intrinsic value per share is therefore directly based on the current market price of the common share.
• No usual valuation discount: Since these shares were issued as part of an internal restructuring for regulatory protection and have a clear right to be converted into common shares, the typical "voting discount" for non-voting shares does not apply in the internal group valuation.

2. Background of the Issuance (Fintech Reorganization)
In the course of reorganizing Rakuten's financial division, Rakuten Card and Rakuten Securities were directly brought under Rakuten Bank as subsidiaries.
• The Challenge: To take over these companies, Rakuten Bank issued new shares to the Rakuten Group and partner bank Mizuho. If Rakuten Bank had issued regular common shares for this, the proportion of freely tradable shares (free float) would have been massively diluted.
• The Solution: Creating Class A Non-Voting Shares ensured that Rakuten Bank could easily meet the strict criteria of the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Prime Market (at least 35% free-float ratio), while the economic value was transferred.

3. Ownership Structure & Voting Control
After part of the securities was converted as of the record date, the distribution is as follows:
• Rakuten Group Holding: The Rakuten Group holds a total of 72.35% of the economic shares in Rakuten Bank. This block is divided into common shares and exactly 181,470,943 Class A non-voting shares.
• The 50% Clause: By structuring as non-voting shares, the Rakuten Group controls exactly 49.95% of the voting rights. There is a contractual agreement between the Rakuten Group and Rakuten Bank: the group may only convert its remaining 181 million shares into common shares without prior written consent from the bank if doing so does not push its voting stake over the 50% threshold. This protects the bank from uncontrolled full ownership without minority protection review.