The logo of Sony Group Corporation is displayed on a screen at the Advanced Technology Exhibition (CETECH) held in Chiba Prefecture on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
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sony group on Tuesday reported a better-than-expected increase in second-quarter operating profit and announced up to 100 billion yen ($648 million) in share buybacks.
Below is Sony’s Q2 results compared to LSEG SmartEstimates, which emphasize more consistently accurate analyst forecasts.
Sales: 3,108 billion yen (forecast: 2,985 billion yen) Operating income: 429 billion yen (forecast: 398,440 million yen)
Sony’s operating profit increased by 10% year-on-year, and sales increased by 5%.
After the announcement of the financial results, Sony’s stock price rose 4%.
The Japanese technology giant raised its full-year outlook, expecting operating profit to rise by 100 billion yen, or 8%, from its previous forecast, driven by gains in its imaging and sensing solutions and music divisions. The company also raised its annual sales forecast by 300 billion yen (3%), while lowering its estimate for tariff-related losses from 70 billion yen to 50 billion yen.
Sony’s music business profit increased 27.65% year on year to 115.4 billion yen. Meanwhile, operating profit for the company’s imaging business was 138.3 billion yen, an increase of nearly 50% year-on-year, making it the company’s most profitable division during the quarter.
Sony’s Imaging and Sensing Solutions division develops and manufactures advanced semiconductor products for a wide range of applications, from smartphones to automotive and industrial systems.
Sony also reported strong sales in its game and network services division, which includes the popular PlayStation brand of home game consoles. The division, which is Sony’s biggest revenue driver, recorded a decline in profit in the September quarter, dropping 13.26% to 120.4 billion yen.
Games and network services have performed well in recent quarters thanks to digital game purchases and a shift to the PlayStation Plus subscription service. Growth in hardware shipments has been relatively slow.
KPop Demon Hunter
Despite Sony’s strong performance, sales in the video business decreased by approximately 2.75% compared to the same period last year. This is despite Sony Pictures Animation producing this year’s blockbuster “KPop Demon Hunters,” which premiered on June 20th.
The Sony-produced film is reportedly the most popular movie in Netflix history, and continues to break streaming records for its original soundtrack.
Despite its success, Sony missed out on much of this turnaround as it sold exclusive rights to the film to Netflix.
Although the exact details of the deal are unclear, Sony reportedly made an initial profit of $25 million by producing the film for Netflix.
At Netflix, KPop Demon Hunter saw strong viewership growth and also contributed to a 17% increase in revenue in the September quarter.
But in a bright spot for Sony, a sequel to the film has already been confirmed, with Netflix reportedly offering the Japanese company a $15 million cash bonus for the first film’s performance.
