Yahoo Finance Sony hikes forecasts after flurry of hit game releases
Sony is now expecting its full year profit to come in 30pc higher than previously forecast, after reporting booming demand for recent big gaming hits.
The Japanese company hiked its profit forecast to 870bn yen (£6bn) from an earlier estimate of 670bn yen, and said revenue is likely to come in at 8.7 trillion yen, compared to the 8.6 trillion yen it had previously suggested.
The forecast lift came thanks to a strong performance from its Playstation division in the first half of the year to the end of September, where operating profits jumped 65pc and sales lifted 27pc.
It marks the second time Sony has hiked its forecasts, thanks to a recent flurry of game releases which have been well-received by critics and players.
Last month's Spider-Man title broke the record for the most sold Sony-developed video game and Red Dead Redemption II, released last week, is thought to be the best-reviewed game of the year.
Going into the results yesterday, Macquarie Group's Damian Throng had said 2018 would be "the best year for the PlayStation for first party games and overall profitability of the platform".
Sony chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said the company had been "very blessed with some blockbuster titles".
"The lineup will remain strong in the second half of the year," he said.
The strong results will be seen as proof that Sony was right to shift more of its focus onto its gaming business.
The company had once been the dominant player in consumer electronics, but over the past decade its share of the market has been whittled down by giants Apple and Samsung. It pivoted to instead pour more resources into its chip division.
