Sony raises full-year forecast after gaming drives profit beat

Sony Group Corp. raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 8% to 1.72 trillion yen ($10.72 billion) after first-quarter operating profit jumped 40% to 476.5 billion yen in the April-June period. The stronger quarter underscored how much the Tokyo conglomerate’s gaming arm now carries the group’s results.

Sony also said earnings per share came in at $0.3645, above the $0.2834 forecast, while revenue reached $17.81 billion against expectations of $17.17 billion. The company sold 1.6 million PlayStation 5 units in the quarter, a reminder that hardware still matters, but increasingly as the entry point into a wider business built on software sales, online services and related content.

That mix helps explain why Sony’s results have become such an important read on consumer spending in games. Sony Interactive Entertainment said PlayStation 5 cumulative worldwide hardware sales were more than 93 million as of March 31, 2026, giving the company a large installed base from which software and network revenue can flow. In a business tied to recurring purchases and digital spending, that scale can cushion the impact of slower demand in older electronics lines.

The latest raise was not Sony’s first this year. In February, the company had already lifted its outlook after a forecast-beating 22% jump in third-quarter operating profit. On May 8, Hiroki Totoki said in Sony’s corporate strategy presentation that the company was entering the final year of its current mid-range plan, with strong performance and record results across many businesses. The repeated upgrades suggest management sees the gaming cycle as holding up better than a typical console downturn.

For investors, the quarter reinforced a broader shift in how Sony is valued. The group is no longer just a hardware maker exposed to volatile device cycles, but a diversified entertainment company with a profit engine in PlayStation that can offset weaker patches elsewhere. That matters as Japanese companies face currency swings, changing consumer demand and the need to keep investing in content and technology. Sony’s latest numbers suggest gaming is still doing the heavy lifting.