Sony (NYSE:SNE) hiked its full-year profit and sales forecasts Wednesday, as the Japanese tech giant said sales of its new PlayStation 5 console reached 4.5 million units in the holiday quarter.
The company reported operating profit of 359.2 billion Japanese yen ($3.4 billion U.S.) in the October-December quarter, up 20% from the same period a year ago and beating expectations. Revenues for the quarter came in at 2.7 trillion yen, up 9% year-on-year.
Sony raised its profit forecast for the 12 months through March 2021 to 940 billion yen, up 34% from the 700 billion yen it had previously expected. Sales are now expected to reach 8.8 trillion yen in the fiscal full year, up 4% from the 8.5 trillion yen it had forecast in October.
Sony said sales at its gaming division rose 40% to 883.2 billion yen, helped by the November launch of its PS5 console and game software sales. The unit posted operating income of 80.2 billion yen, up around 50% from the previous year. Profits were helped by software and network services sales, but weighed down by costs related to the PS5, which Sony said was being sold at a loss.
Sony released the PS5 — the successor to its PlayStation 4 console — on Nov. 12, hoping to convince gamers to part with their cash for a next-generation machine with improved graphics and performance, and exclusive titles that can’t be found on other platforms.
SNE shares leaped $9.04. or 9.1%, to $108.28.
