Sony Corporation Making Leaps and Bounds
Sony Corporation shares jumped the most in almost three months after the company’s better-than-projected preliminary earnings boosted analyst confidence in its ability to hit the highest profit levels in almost two decades. This profit comes amidst an earthquake that his west Japan this past October.
Sony operates in the Tokyo trading market, and saw an increase as much as 4.6 percent in early quarters, headed for its biggest jump since Feb. 3. Sony reported preliminary operating profit of 285 billion yen ($2.6 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2017, 19 percent higher than its previous forecast, according to a statement Friday after the close. It also said net income would be about 73 billion yen, more than twice the previous forecast. The forecast was affected by the prediction of lower-than-expected numbers after a severe trough in May of 2016.
All the major global trading platforms (such as JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs) evaluated Sony’s stock as bullish and predicted that the previous fiscal year’s firm results indicate Sony can achieve operating profit of 500 billion yen, which would be the highest level since 1998.
This is the second straight year operating profit has topped $2 billion, the longest streak since 2001. Sony Corporation cited strong performance across most businesses and cost-savings in its insurance unit. Its chips division also saw lower expenses after a faster-than-expected recovery from last year’s earthquake in western Japan.
The next big date is April 28, when Sony is expected to announce its forecast for the upcoming year. Goldman Sach’s Masaru Sugiyama said the company is likely to announce operating profit target of at least 500 billion yen. The year 1998 marked Sony’s first foray into the gaming scene with the original PlayStation console and top hit titles like Metal Gear Solid and Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Sony’s studios also churned out hits like Men in Black.
What does this mean for the gaming community? Sony’s got a bankroll, which means more resources to pour into title acquisition and more research for their next-gen gaming system. We’re back to good old 1998, baby!