Sony Q1 Profit Surges 10%, Exceeds Estimates

Sony has reported a 10% increase in operating profit for the April-June quarter, surpassing analyst estimates of 279 billion yen ($1.90 billion). The Japanese tech and entertainment conglomerate achieved an operating profit of 279.11 billion yen, exceeding the average forecast of 275 billion yen from seven analysts. Revenue for the quarter was 3.01 trillion yen ($20.5 billion), up 2% from the same period last year.

The company sold 2.4 million PlayStation 5 units in the first quarter, significantly fewer than the 20.8 million units sold in the previous year. Despite this decline, Sony plans to sell 18 million PS5 units in the current fiscal year, down from the 20.8 million units sold last year. The increase in operating profit was driven by strong performances in its image sensor and gaming units, with higher first-party software sales contributing to the gains.

Sony also revised its full-year net profit forecast upwards to 980 billion yen ($6.7 billion) from the previous estimate of 925 billion yen, following a 6.5% increase in net profit on-year in Q1, rising to 231.6 billion yen. The company's image sensor business saw significant growth, tripling its profit to 36.6 billion yen due to favorable foreign exchange impacts and increased sales. Despite the positive quarterly results, Sony's financial services segment continued to experience weakness, contributing to a 7% decline in operating profit for the full year 2023.