Sony expects record profit as entertainment businesses drive growth
Games, films and image sensors are set to lift Sony's fiscal 2026 profit, even as PS5 sales volumes soften and group sales decline.
- Sony forecasts a record-high group net profit of 1.16 trillion yen for fiscal 2026, a 12.5% increase from the prior year.
- The expected profit growth is primarily driven by strong performance in its entertainment businesses, including its core games and film divisions.
- Strong software sales are supporting the games division's earnings, even as PlayStation 5 hardware sales are expected to fall.
- The company's semiconductor business is also a key contributor to the positive outlook, due to firm demand for its image sensors.
Sony Group Corp. said on Friday (May 8) that it expects group net profit to reach a record high in fiscal 2026, which began in April, as its games and other entertainment businesses continue to perform strongly.
The Japanese technology and entertainment conglomerate forecast net profit of 1.16 trillion yen for the year, a 12.5 per cent increase from fiscal 2025.
Operating profit for the current fiscal year is projected to climb 10.5 per cent to 1.6 trillion yen, although consolidated sales are expected to slip 1.4 per cent to 12.3 trillion yen.
Sony said its core games division is being supported by strong software sales, while its film business is also helping earnings. Its semiconductor operation is benefiting from firm demand for image sensors used in digital cameras.
However, sales volumes of the PlayStation 5 console are expected to fall as memory prices surge.
“We have secured a necessary volume of semiconductor memories for 2026,” Sony President and CEO Hiroki Totoki said during an online briefing. He added that Sony does not plan to raise PS5 prices again, after implementing a price increase in April.
For fiscal 2025, which ended in March, Sony Group reported consolidated sales of 12,479.6 billion yen, up 3.7 per cent from the previous year. The result was helped by the popularity of the latest anime film in the “Demon Slayer” franchise, distributed by subsidiary Aniplex Inc.
Operating profit for fiscal 2025 rose 13.4 per cent to 1,447.5 billion yen. Net profit, however, declined 3.4 per cent to 1,030.8 billion yen.
The fall in net profit was partly due to a 44.9 billion yen loss linked to the cancellation of a plan to release an electric vehicle by Sony Honda Mobility Inc., a joint venture with Honda Motor Co.
Sony’s latest earnings report applies the equity method to its financial operations following the spinoff of Sony Financial Group Inc. last October.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
