Sony Boosts Guidance as Profit Jumps on 'Spider-Man' Hit, Game Strength — Update

By Kosaku Narioka

Sony Group raised its annual earnings forecasts after reporting sharply higher quarterly profit thanks to the massive success of 2026's "Spider-Man" film and gains from its game and other businesses.

The Japanese entertainment and electronics company said the latest installment of its Spider-Man franchise grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide, also helping other business lines through increased sales of related game titles and streaming of the movie's soundtrack.

Second-quarter operating profit rose across segments, led by its game and movie divisions, the company said.

The strong earnings beat comes as Sony has spent billions of dollars on acquisitions in recent years to beef up its entertainment content while relinquishing control of businesses in other areas.

"We've been investing in entertainment for a long time, and we are finally producing big hits every year," Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao said.

"We are now entering a stage where we can expect to roll out IP (intellectual property) across multiple fronts."

In May, Sony agreed to acquire Recognition Music Group's full catalog, a collection of more than 45,000 pop songs from artists ranging from Rihanna to Fleetwood Mac. The deal was made through Sony's venture with Singapore sovereign-wealth fund GIC.

Meanwhile, the Japanese company spun off its financial business in October 2025.

Sony has also sought to strengthen other areas. It recently agreed to form a joint venture with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to produce next-generation image sensors for smartphones, with the companies planning to invest a combined $4.7 billion.

Sony is also teaming up with Saudi Aramco to advance artificial-intelligence capabilities in the industrial sector by combining its sensing and AI technologies with Aramco's extensive industrial data and operational experience.

Net profit jumped 44% from a year earlier to 449.60 billion yen, equivalent to $2.84 billion, for the three months ended September, Sony said Thursday. That topped the Y349.00 billion estimate in a poll of analysts by data provider Visible Alpha. Revenue was also better than expected, growing 10% to Y3.429 trillion.

For the year ending March, the company projected revenue to increase 4.2% to Y13.000 trillion and net profit to climb 29% to Y1.330 trillion. It previously forecast revenue of Y12.500 trillion and net profit of Y1.210 trillion.

Quarterly operating profit for its game business surged 83% to Y220.06 billion, fueled by sales of in-house titles and sales from network services.

Sony sold 2.6 million PlayStation 5s in its second quarter, compared with 4.0 million units a year ago.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 05, 2026 05:25 ET (10:25 GMT)