Beyoncé performs on stage during her Renaissance World Tour.
Kevin Mazur | Wireimage | Getty Images
Sony on Wednesday reported a 10 percent jump in fiscal first-quarter operating profit, beating analysts’ expectations, after seeing strong growth in its gaming, music and imaging chip businesses.
The Japanese tech giant’s music division, in particular, received a boost during the quarter as the release of R&B star Beyonce’s new album “Cowboy Carter” boosted its performance.
Here’s how Sony did in the June quarter, compared to LSEG consensus estimates:
- Revenue: 3.01 trillion Japanese yen ($20.5 billion), versus 2.8 trillion yen expected. This marked a 2% increase over the same period last year.
- Operating profit: 279.11 billion yen ($1.9 billion), versus 275.35 billion yen expected. This was up 10% year-on-year.
In an earnings call on Wednesday, Sony said first-quarter sales benefited from “significant increases” in gaming and network services, music and imaging and sensing solutions.
Gaming, which Sony is known for thanks to its popular PlayStation consoles, generated revenue of 864.9 billion yen in the quarter, up 12 percent from 771.9 billion yen a year ago.
Meanwhile, Sony’s music and imaging sensor divisions posted revenue jumps of 23% and 21%, respectively.
For the full year 2024, Sony revised its forecast upward, saying it now expects to reach ¥12.6 billion in sales. That’s 2% higher than the company previously guided.
Sony also raised its operating profit forecast by 3 percent, noting that it expects to reach 1.3 trillion yen in consolidated operating profit for the full year.
Sony gets a boost from Beyonce
In the music department, Sony received a boost from new recorded music released during the June quarter — including US singer Beyonce.
Sony dropped Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter,” Future & Metro Boomin’s “We Don’t Trust You” and SZA’s “SOS” as the top 10 best-selling recorded music projects for Sony Music Entertainment in the first quarter.
“Cowboy Carter,” released in March, pays homage to Beyonce’s hometown of Houston, Texas. It’s one of 2024’s biggest releases so far, along with Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department.”
In May, the Japanese consumer electronics house reported a disappointing full-year 2023, narrowly missing its target for annual PlayStation 5 sales. The company at the time reported total unit sales of 20.8 million units for fiscal 2023, lower than the 21 million units Sony said it expected.
On Wednesday, Sony announced that it sold 2.4 million PlayStation 5 units in the June quarter. That was down from the 3.3 million PlayStation 5 units Sony sold in the same period a year ago.
However, the company got a boost from software sales, even as hardware revenue lagged. Sony said it saw growth in sales of first-party game software titles and sales from network services — notably its PlayStation Plus subscription service.
PlayStation Plus is a subscription program that gives players access to online multiplayer and provides access to a number of free titles each month.
The numbers show a long-term shift for the console industry, which has seen a trend of gamers increasingly turning to digital downloads and subscription services.
This includes offerings that allow game streaming via the cloud, a technology that forgoes the need for expensive hardware.
Sony shares were flat in Tokyo on Wednesday. Japanese stocks have had a tumultuous few days this week, with the Nikkei notching its worst Monday since the Black Monday crash of 1987.
