By Kosaku Narioka

Sony Group boosted its annual earnings guidance after reporting higher profit on the strength of its game, music and image-sensor businesses during a quarter that included the holiday shopping season.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment company raised operating profit forecasts for the segments and now expects revenue of 12.300 trillion yen, equivalent to $78.40 billion, and net profit of Y1.130 trillion for the year ending March, up 2.2% and 5.9%, respectively. The company previously projected revenue of Y12.000 trillion and net profit of Y1.050 trillion.

It said Thursday that net profit jumped 11% from a year earlier to Y377.32 billion for the three months ended December. That topped analysts' estimate of Y348.2 billion in a poll by data provider Visible Alpha. Revenue also exceeded expectations, rising 0.5% to Y3.714 trillion.

Shares of the company bounced as much as 5.9% in Tokyo after the results, paring this year's declines to about 12%.

The earnings beat is the latest sign that Sony Group's strategy of spending billions on acquisitions over the past few years to boost its entertainment content is paying off.

That momentum has continued in recent months. Sony's music arm said last week that it set up an investment partnership with Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund GIC to acquire music catalogs across a range of genres. In December, Sony agreed to acquire an additional stake in Peanuts Holdings, the owner of Snoopy, Charlie Brown and other characters, for about $460 million.

Meanwhile, Sony said in January that it planned to set up a joint venture with Hong Kong-listed consumer electronics maker TCL Electronics Holdings, a move that would mark the end of majority ownership in its television business. The company also spun off its financial business in October to focus on its entertainment businesses.

Earlier this week, videogame rival Nintendo maintained its annual forecasts for Switch 2 sales and earnings following solid quarterly results, boosted by the popularity of the new gaming device. Nintendo sold 7.0 million Switch 2 consoles in the three months ended December.

Sony said Thursday that in its third quarter, which included the holiday shopping season, operating profit for its game business rose 19% to Y140.84 billion due to higher sales of network services and its own software titles. PlayStation 5 sales fell to 8.0 million units from 9.5 million units a year earlier.

Operating profit for its music business climbed 9.2% to Y106.41 billion, driven by higher revenue from live events and streaming services. Operating profit for its imaging and sensing business increased 35% to Y131.97 billion, thanks to stronger sales of image sensors for mobile products.

Third-quarter operating profit declined for its movie and entertainment tech businesses.

Sony reiterated expectations for a Y50 billion tariff hit to operating profit this fiscal year.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2026 01:10 ET (06:10 GMT)

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