Sony PlayStation games are displayed at a Best Buy store on December 17, 2024 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Sony on Thursday raised revenue and profit forecasts for the full year after reporting a significant jump in gaming sales for the fiscal third quarter.
Here’s how Sony did in the December quarter compared with analyst estimates compiled by LSEG:
- Revenue: 4.41 trillion Japanese yen ($28.6 billion), versus 3.77 trillion yen expected. That was up 18% year-over-year and beat analyst expectations.
- Operating income: 469.3 billion yen, versus 404.21 billion yen expected. That’s up 1% year-on year and also topped analyst estimates.
Sony said it now expects sales for its fiscal full-year 2024 to hit 13.2 trillion yen, up 4% from its November forecast. The Japanese technology giant also raised its outlook for annual operating profit by 2% to 1.34 trillion yen.
The company noted that sales in its game and network services division totaled 237.9 billion yen in the fiscal third quarter, growing 16% year-over-year. This was bolstered by an increase in sales of both console and non-first-party game titles including add-on content.
Sony sold 9.5 million units of its PlayStation 5 console in the December quarter, up from 8.2 million in the same period a year ago. That takes PS5 total lifetime sales to 74.9 million units, based on Sony’s results for the most recent quarter plus previous years.
The December quarter is a key period for Sony, covering the popular holiday shopping season which is often a lucrative time for consumer electronics firms.
In the previous quarter, Sony raised its sales guidance for the 2025 fiscal year, revising its forecast for revenue up slightly to 12.7 trillion yen from 12.6 trillion yen previously.
All eyes were on Sony’s gaming hardware business Thursday. In its fiscal second quarter, the firm said it sold 3.8 million units of its PlayStation 5 console, down 22% year-over-year.
Sony released the PlayStation 5 Pro last year, an upgraded version of its PS5 machine which has been out since November 2020.
Rival Nintendo reported weaker-than-expected results in its fiscal third quarter and slashed its forecast for the Switch console. The Japanese gaming giant last month teased a successor to the Switch dubbed Switch 2. It has yet to announce a price or release date but said more details will be revealed on April 2.