Sony Corp. surged 3.06% to $23.90 after the electronics and media company reported steady revenue and profit growth for the fiscal third quarter ending in December.
Total sales increased to ¥4.41 trillion from ¥3.75 trillion, net income rose to ¥373.74 billion from ¥363.92 billion, and earnings per diluted share climbed to ¥61.82 from ¥58.96 a year ago.
The company estimated full-year sales of ¥13.2 trillion ($87.6 billion) on the back of strong performance in its gaming and music business in the third quarter, compared to ¥13.02 trillion a year ago.
Sony also raised its outlook for annual operating profit to ¥1.34 trillion ($87.6 billion), a 2% increase from the previous financial year.
Business Segments
Sony reported significant increases in games and network services and music segments during the third quarter, but operating income in the pictures unit declined 7.6% to ¥34.0 billion.
Sales in entertainment, technology, and services (ET&S) plunged 31.2% to ¥704.5 billion, while in imaging and sensing solutions (I&SS) sales dropped 4.2% to ¥500.9 billion from the same quarter a year ago.
While revenue in the financial services division surged 406.7%, operating income declined 30.9% to ¥46.4 billion in the quarter.
For fiscal year 2024, the company estimated total operating income of ¥1.34 trillion, compared to ¥1.21 trillion in the previous year.
Sony expects annual sales growth in all segments except for the financial services and the entertainment, technology, and services (ET&S) units.
Sales in ET&S are estimated to decline to ¥2.42 billion from ¥2.45 billion a year ago, impacted by slower sales of televisions and smartphones, while financial services is expected to fall to ¥1.30 billion from ¥1.77 billion a year earlier.
PlayStation
The number of monthly active users across PlayStation (PS) platforms in December increased 5% compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 129 million accounts, the highest number in PS history.
Total play time also increased 2% year-on-year, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of annual growth.
In November, Sony released a beta version of a cloud streaming feature on the PlayStation Portal remote player.
PS Plus Premium subscribers can now play over 120 PS5 game titles on the PS Portal streamed directly from cloud servers without going through a PS5 console.
In December, Sony’s ASTRO BOT received prestigious game awards in four categories, including Game of the Year and Best Family Game.
In addition, the live service game Helldivers 2, released in February last year, won the best ongoing game and best multiplayer game awards.
Helldivers 2\'s large update, Omens of Tyranny, released in December 2024, has also been well received by users.
Sony plans to release games such as the major title Ghost of Yōtei and the sequel to the popular title Death Stranding and so expects further expansion in earnings from first-party software.
Music
During the quarter, new albums from artists such as Tyler, the Creator, and ATEEZ became hits.
Bad Bunny\'s new album, released from Rimas Entertainment on January 5, 2025, has become a big hit as well, capturing number one on the Billboard 200 and making him the fastest male artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify.
At the 67th Grammy Awards held on February 2, 2025, Beyoncé\'s COWBOY CARTER won the award for Album of the Year.
Beyoncé, who has been nominated for ninety-nine Grammys over the course of her career, the most of any artist, was nominated in eleven categories this time, and she won three categories, including Album of the Year.
Pictures
In motion pictures, there is still some impact of the strikes, such as the postponement to the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, of the theatrical releases of the next Spider-Man and Jumanji movies.
However, production activity is recovering, and the production of new shows, which was impacted by the strikes, has almost stabilized.
At Crunchyroll, streaming of the second season of the anime series Solo Leveling, produced by Aniplex, began last month, and it has become a big hit in many countries.
Additionally, going forward, Sony aims to further strengthen its engagement with anime fans around the world, including through the scheduled release of Crunchyroll Manga, a digital comic service for paid subscribers in North America.
Imagining and Sensing Solutions (I&SS)
The global smartphone market continued to slowly recover during the quarter, and mobile sensor sales were essentially in line with the company’s expectations.
Sales of new mobile sensor products increased 15% for the nine-month period ending in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year.
Regarding automotive sensors, there has been a slowdown in the growth of the electric vehicle market, especially in the U.S. and Europe, but demand from EV manufacturers in China remained strong.
Furthermore, Sony has expanded its business by shifting toward higher pixel count sensors in what is a small-proportion production as compared to overall segments.
The market for interchangeable lens digital cameras has seen the single-lens reflex camera market shrink at a faster rate than the growth of the mirrorless camera market, which is driven by Sony.
The interchangeable lens market is continuing to grow steadily, with the combined market size for cameras and lenses exceeding ¥1.20 trillion in 2024.
The imaging market requires the integration of multiple advanced technologies, such as optics, mechatronics, and image processing.
With regard to this, Sony expects to generate a high market share and profitability, relying on its image sensors and 5G communications technology to meet the needs of creators.
Sony Financial Group
Sony is preparing to spin off and list Sony Financial Group as a separately traded company in October 2025, and the deal’s details will be announced in late May.
Feb 17
Luluemlon Athletica decreased 2% to $454.67 after the specialty apparel retailer reported quarterly results and issued a weaker-than-expected holiday sales outlook.
Total revenue in the fiscal third quarter ending in October increased 19% to $2.2 billion, driven by a 12% sales increase in North America and a 49% surge in international markets.
Comparable sales increased by 9%, including comparable store sales of 9%, and direct-to-consumer sales soared by 18% from a year ago.
Net income in the quarter decreased to $248.7 million from $255.5 million, and diluted earnings per share fell to $1.97 from $2.0 a year ago.
During the third quarter, the athletic apparel retailer purchased 0.6 million shares of its own common stock at an average price of $380.88 per share for a cost of $210.8 million.
As of the end of the fiscal third quarter on October 29, the company had $243.2 million available for stock repurchase, and the board of directors approved an additional stock repurchase plan of up to $1.0 billion.
The company offered a cautious sales growth outlook for the upcoming holiday season.
For the fiscal fourth quarter, the retailer expects net revenue to be in the range of $3.135 billion to $3.170 billion, representing growth of 13% to 14%.
Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $4.85 to $4.93 for the quarter, assuming a tax rate of approximately 30%.
Dec 8
Dollar General Corp. increased 2.8% to $137.70 after the deep discount retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly results and reaffirmed its fiscal year outlook for earnings and comparable sales.
Revenue in the fiscal third quarter ending on November 3 increased 2.4% to $9.7 billion, and same-store sales declined 1.3%.
Net income in the third quarter dropped 47.5% to $276.2 million from $526.2 million, and diluted earnings per share decreased 45.9% to $1.26 from $2.33 a year ago.
As of November 3, 2023, total merchandise inventories, at cost, were $7.4 billion compared to $7.1 billion as of October 28, 2022, a decrease of 1.8% on a per-store basis.
The company did not repurchase any of its shares in the quarter, and the retailer said $1.4 billion is available for future purchases at the end of the fiscal third quarter.
The company\'s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 59 cents payable on January 23 to shareholders on record on January 9.
The company forecasted fiscal year 2023 same store sales to range between flat and a decline of 1.0%, and net sales growth between 1.5% and 2.5%, including one fewer week this fiscal year.
The retailer estimated diluted earnings per share to decline between 29% and 34% and range between $7.10 and $7.60.
Dec 8
Chewy declined 10.8% to $17.25 after the online pet food and products store reported weaker-than-expected revenue and the company swung to a loss in the quarter.
Revenue in the fiscal third quarter ending in October rose 8.2% to $2.73 billion from $2.53 billion, and the company swung to a net loss of $35.8 million from a profit of $2.3 million, and diluted earnings per share swung to a loss of 8 cents from a profit of 1 cent a year ago.
Gross margin expanded 10 basis points from a year ago to a record high of 28.5%, and autoship customer sales increased 12.8% to $2.1 billion, representing 76.4% of total sales.
Dec 7
Toll Brothers increased 2% to $89.0 after the luxury home builder reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
Revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter ending in October declined to $3.02 billion from $3.7 billion, net income decreased to $445.5 million from $640.5 million, and diluted earnings per share dropped to $4.11 from $5.63 a year ago.
The backlog of homes at the end of October declined 19% to 6,578 and the value of the backlog fell 22% to $6.95 billion.
During the quarter, the company repurchased approximately 4.3 million shares at an average price of $75.70 per share, for a total of $325.5 million.
In the fiscal year, the home builder repurchased approximately 7.9 million shares at an average price of $72 per share, for a total purchase price of $565.9 million.
The home developer estimated home deliveries in the fiscal 2024 first quarter to range between 1,800 and 1,900 units and the average delivery price per unit to range between $985,000 and $1.05 million.
Dec 6
Big Lots Inc soared 31% to $8.22 after the deep discount retailer reported smaller-than-expected loss.
Big Lots said quarterly revenue declined 15.4% to $1.14 billion from $1.35 billion and net loss soared to $249.8 million from $84.2 million and diluted loss per share jumped to $8.56 from $2.91 a year ago.
Inventory at the end of the quarter declined 15% to $0.98 billion from $1.2 billion because of lower in-transit and on-hand units and lower average unit costs.
On August 25 the company completed the sale of its Apple Valley, California distribution center 22 stores, resulting in gross proceeds of $300 million and after tax and expenses net proceeds were $294 million.
The synthetic lease is an off-balance sheet financing that allows the company to report the lease as an operating lease for financial reporting and deemed as financing for federal tax purposes.
The company used proceeds to pay $100 million for its synthetic lease on the distribution center and the remainder to pay down debt.
The discount retailer forecasted comparable sales to decline in the \"low-teen\" range and sales to ease 140 basis points compared to the third quarter a year ago.
The company did not provide earnings per share outlook for the third quarter and estimated share count to average 29.3 million in the third quarter.
Aug 29
Starbucks Corp increased 0.8% to $102.03 after the coffee chain operator reported higher-than-expected sales in the fiscal third quarter on a sales rebound in China.
Sales at stores open at least 13 months in China soared 46% from a year ago, after Covid-restrictions ended.
Global comparable store sales increased 10% and the U.S. and North American comparable store sales increased 7% from a year ago.
Revenue in the quarter ending on July 2 rose 12% to $9.2 billion and the company opened 588 net new stores in the quarter, increasing the worldwide total to 37,000.
Net earnings attributable to shareholders increased to $1.1 billion from $913 million and diluted earnings per share rose to 99 cents from 79 cents a year ago.
China is expected to drive future sales growth as the company pushes to open more stores in smaller cities of the nation with 1.4 billion people with a preferred hot beverage tea over coffee.
At the end of the third quarter, stores in the U.S. and China comprised 61% of the company’s global portfolio, with 16,144 and 6,480 stores in the U.S. and China, respectively.
Aug 6
Airbnb Inc was nearly unchanged at $141.0 after the online short-term stay booking platform reported revenues and booking rose at a slower-than-expected pace in the quarter.
Second quarter revenue increased 18% to $2.5 billion from $2.1 billion and net income soared 72% to $650 million from $379 million and diluted earnings per share advanced to 98 cents from 56 cents a year ago.
The company reported the most profitable second quarter on GAAP basis.
The company generated $909 million of operating cash flow and free cash flow jumped 13% from a year ago and 644% from four years ago to $900 million.
Gross booking value rose 13% from a year ago to $19.1 billion and nights and experiences booked increased 11% driven by growth in all regions to 115.1 million.
Active listings increased 19% to 7 million, and the booking platform added record net active listings in any quarter, and active listings have accelerated in every quarter in the last ten quarters.
Average daily rate declined 1% from a year ago in North America but rose 8% in the Europe, Middle East and Africa but overall daily rate increased 1% to $166.
In the second quarter, guests traveling more than 3,000 miles increased 20% compared to a year ago and cross-border represented 45% of total gross nights booked, up from 43% in the second quarter of 2022, but still below 50% in the corresponding period in 2019.
The company forecasted third quarter revenue between $3.3 billion and $3.4 billion and estimated upward pressure in average daily room rate and \"a modest sequential increase in the annual growth rate\" of nights and experiences booked from the second quarter.
Aug 4
