Sony shares soar 10% after raising 2024 revenue and profit forecasts

Shares of Sony Group (NYSE: SONY) surged by as much as 10.7% on Friday after the company raised its revenue and profit projections for the current financial year, which ends in March.

The Japanese tech and entertainment giant revealed on Thursday that it is revising its annual operating profit forecast to 1.34 trillion yen ($876 billion), a 2% increase from the previous year.

Sony also raised its sales forecast for the full year to 13.2 trillion yen, a 4% increase from its November estimate, driven by stronger-than-expected performance in its gaming and music sectors during the third quarter. For the December quarter, the company reported operating income of 469.3 billion yen, a 1% rise from the same period last year.

Once known for its consumer electronics like the Walkman, Sony has expanded into movies, music, and gaming consoles, most notably the PlayStation. The company’s gaming division saw a 37% increase in operating profit for the fiscal third quarter, driven by higher sales in network services, hardware, and third-party software.

Sony sold 9.5 million PlayStation 5 consoles in the December quarter, up from 8.2 million in the same period a year earlier, bringing the total lifetime sales of the PS5 to 74.9 million units, based on its latest quarter and prior data.

During Thursday’s results briefing, Sony’s president and CEO Hiroki Totoki shared that monthly active users across PlayStation platforms rose 5% year-on-year in December, reaching a record 129 million accounts. He also noted a 2% increase in total playtime year-on-year, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of growth.