Sony

Sony Group Corp. announced its intention to list its financial arm in October 2025, marking a significant move for the conglomerate to inject substantial capital following a reduction in forecasts for its core gaming division.

The decision to partially sell Sony’s financial group was disclosed alongside the company’s earnings report and revised projections for the fiscal year ending in March. This move represents a reversal of a $3.7 billion take-private deal finalized in 2020. Following the announcement, Sony’s stock surged 3.2% in premarket trading in New York.

Sony revised its revenue forecast downwards after sales of its flagship PlayStation 5 in the December quarter fell approximately a million units short of average analyst estimates, reaching 8.2 million consoles. The company also adjusted its sales projection for the fiscal year to 21 million units, down from the previous estimate of 25 million units.

Naomi Matsuoka, senior vice president, commented on the future outlook of the PS5, stating, “Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle. As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales. For this reason, we expect the annual sales pace of PS5 hardware to start falling from the next fiscal year.” Sony now anticipates sales of ¥12.3 trillion ($81.7 billion) for the current fiscal year, down from the previous forecast of ¥12.4 trillion. The company reported revenue of ¥3.75 trillion and an operating profit of ¥463.3 billion in the quarter ended December, aligning with average analyst estimates.

Morningstar research director Kazunori Ito remarked on Sony’s spending on promotions to drive PS5 sales, noting a decline in hardware profitability despite significant promotional efforts. The weaker-than-expected hardware sales occurred despite robust software performance, with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, released in October as a PS5 exclusive, selling 2.5 million copies within its first 24 hours, marking the fastest-selling debut from Sony’s in-house studios. This success, coupled with a record number of users on the PlayStation network in December, had initially fueled optimism that the PS5 was gaining momentum after years of constrained supply.

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