Sony (NYSE: SONY) shares rose early Tuesday after the Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate reported fourth-quarter results that beat expectations and said it sold more than 19 million PlayStation 5 units, despite continued shortages of PlayStation 5 devices. fleas.
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For the period ending March 31, Sony (SONY) generated net profit of 111.1 billion yen ($852.5 million) and earnings per share of 88.98 yen (68 cents) on revenue of 2.264 trillion yen ($17.41 billion ).
Analysts were looking for Sony (SONY) to report net profit of 94.24 billion yen.
The company attributed its strength to its video game and film divisions, helped in part by the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, while sales in its TV division were boosted by licensing revenue from Seinfeld and other titles.
Shares of Sony (SONY) were up more than 2% to $82.60 in premarket trading on Tuesday.
During the quarter, Sony (SONY) said it sold over 2 million PlayStation 5 consoles, bringing its total to 19.3 million. While this figure was down from the year-ago period when it sold 3.3 million units, Sony (SONY) said it sold over 70.5 million games.
Looking ahead, Sony (SONY) said it should be helped by the weaker yen, with sales outlook for fiscal 2023 of 11.4 trillion yen, down from an earlier outlook of 9.9 trillion yen. Operating profit is expected to be 1.16 trillion yen, net profit is expected to reach 830 billion yen, while operating cash flow is expected to be 1.05 trillion yen.
According to Sony (SONY), the dollar traded at 116 yen for sales in fiscal year March 2023, compared to 106 for the previous year.
Separately, Sony (SONY), which also makes TVs, cameras and other electronics, said it had resumed partial production at its plant in Shanghai, China, after the city entered a a Covid-related lockdown.
Last month, it was reported that Sony (SONY) was looking to sell to sell in-game advertising on its PlayStation platform, a move similar to what Microsoft is doing with its Xbox unit.
