Japanese electronic giant Sony $SNE reported better than expected fiscal second-quarter earnings wirh a robust performance from its PlayStation gaming business, and forecast that it expects its best profit since 1998 next quarter. The ADR was up 12.5%.
Japanese electronic giant Sony $SNE reported better than expected fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue wirh robust performances from its PlayStation gaming business, and forecast that it expects its best profit since 1998 next quarter. Sony also raised their dividend, The Semiconducter sales also returned to profitability. The ADR was up 12.5%
Earnings: Operating profit of 204 billion yen vs 135.6 billion yen expected, a rise of 346.4 percent for the three months to September 30, Sales of 2.06 trillion Japanese yen ($18.2 billion) vs 1.86 trillion yen expected, according to Reuters data, a rise of 22.1 percent year-on-year rise.
Reaction: Sony Corporation ADR $SNE $US43.71 +4.86 (+12.51%)
Sony Shares Are Now at Nine Year Plus Highs
Dividend:
Sony raised its dividend in the second quarter to 12.50 Japanese yen from 10 Japanese yen.
PlayStation Segment
Sony’s gaming and network services business saw operating revenue rise 35.4 percent year-on-year to 433.2 billion yen. Operating income hit 54.8 billion yen, up 188.3 percent.
PlayStation saw increased game and hardware sales with franchise stalwarts “FIFA 18” and “Unchartered: The Lost Legacy” released during the quarter.
With the earnings release Sony also announced a number of new games coming out over the next couple of years. The focus was on virtual reality (VR) games. Last year saw the release of the PlayStation VR headset, which has already sold over 1 million units. Sony has been investing in areas such as VR and artificial intelligence (AI).
Semiconductor Segment
Sony’s semiconductor business had profit of 49.4 billion yen in the quarter, up from a 4.2 billion yen loss in same period a year before. Sony said that the increase in profit was due to increased sales of image sensors for mobile products, large years results were also afected by an earthquake.
Outlook
Sony expects operating income for the year ending March 31 to be 630 billion Japanese yen. This would be the highest ever profit for the company since its record-breaking year in 1998 when it earned 526 billion yen. This period saw the popularity and success of Sony’s first PlayStation console takeoff.