Sony Shares Rise On Strong Earnings, Hiked 2020 Outlook

Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) beat consensus in the fiscal second-quarter 2020 on Wednesday. Diluted earnings per share of ¥367.82 (approximately $3.52) beat consensus by ¥288.44, and revenue of ¥2.11 trillion (roughly $20 billion) beat consensus by ¥185 billion.

Key FQ2 Highlights: Revenues from Game & Network Services segment grew 11.5% year-over-year to ¥506.64 billion, Music segment increased 5.3% YoY to ¥230.87 billion, Electronic products & solutions segment  rose 2.3% YoY to ¥504.66 billion, and Pictures segment fell 26.2% YoY to ¥192.3 billion.

Costs and expenses fell 2.57% YoY, spurred by a 7.2% fall in Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses.

Operating profit rose 13.9% YoY to ¥317.7 billion.

Outlook: The company raised the annual 2020 revenue forecast to ¥8.5 trillion, 2.4% higher than the August forecast due to better performance from Game & Network Servies, Music, and Financial Servies segments.

The company anticipates a positive impact from PlayStation Plus and the upcoming PlayStation 5 launch.

Operating income outlook was revised upwards by 12.9% to ¥700 billion based on strong operating performance from all segments except Imaging and Sensing Solutions.

Sony hiked net income guidance by 56.9% to ¥800 billion (from August estimate of ¥510 billion), citing higher EBIT expectations and tax benefits.

Price Action: SNE shares are trading 4.1% higher to $80.60 in the pre-market session on the last check Wednesday.