The continued strength of Playstation 4, a booming music business and a worldwide blockbuster in “Jumanji” carried Sony to its best third quarter ever, the company announced early Friday morning.
Sony reported revenue of $23.65 billion and earnings of $2.03 cents a share for the three months ended Dec. 31, which is the company’s fiscal third quarter. Revenue slightly missed analyst projections of $24.49 billion, but the entertainment giant’s earnings came in well above the $1.15 analysts estimated. Its sales jumped 11.5 percent from the same period last year, while its earnings spiked 1,400 percent year-over-year — and that’s not a typo.
With CEO Kaz Harai announcing hours earlier he’ll be stepping down in April, the 57-year-old exec looks to be leaving on a high note. Sony posted a $3.2 billion operating profit for the quarter — a 280 percent increase year-over-year.
Gaming continued to be a strong point for Sony, with the company moving 9 million Playstation 4 units during the quarter — representing a slight dip from the 9.7 million devices sold last year. Since launching in 2013, more than 76 million PS4s have now been sold.
And less than four years after its infamous hack, Sony Pictures is booming, thanks in large part to “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” The juggernaut, starring Kevin Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has raked in $840 million across the globe since its December release. Sony Pictures also pointed to higher video subscription revenue stemming from the second season of Netflix’s “The Crown.” Overall, Sony Pictures posted a $93 million quarterly profit.
Sony’s music wing increased revenue 22 percent year-over-year, with the company crediting an uptick in digital streaming. The popularity of “Fate/Grand Order,” a smartphone game, was also lumped in with its music boost.
And while its not the sexiest part of its business, a “significant increase” in demand for Sony’s image sensors, used in smartphones, was another bright spot.