Sony $SONY posted a 13% rise in full-year operating income on Friday and forecast further profit growth in the year ahead, even as PlayStation 5 hardware sales continued to slide and memory price pressures weighed on its gaming segment.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, the company reported operating income of ¥1.45 trillion on revenue of ¥12.48 trillion, the company said. The gains were driven by record operating income in its music and image sensor divisions. Sony's Music segment posted a 25% increase in operating income to ¥447 billion, while its Imaging and Sensing Solutions segment rose 37% to ¥357.3 billion. Both figures represented segment records, Sony said.
For the fiscal year beginning April 2026, Sony is forecasting operating income of ¥1.6 trillion — an 11% increase — on revenue of ¥12.3 trillion. Looking ahead to the fiscal year ending March 2027, Sony projected net profit attributable to stockholders would reach ¥1.16 trillion, a 13% gain over the ¥1.03 trillion recorded in the year just closed. Sony also disclosed plans to repurchase as much as ¥500 billion worth of its own shares during the coming fiscal year, according to Reuters, equivalent to about $3.2 billion. Sony raised its dividend to ¥35 per share for the coming fiscal year, up ¥10 from the prior year.
The gaming business cast a shadow over the results. Quarter-on-quarter comparisons showed a steep deterioration in console demand: just 1.5 million PS5 units were sold in the three months through March, roughly half the volume recorded in the fourth quarter a year prior — a 46% drop — according to CNBC. Hardware revenue in the quarter fell to ¥110 billion from ¥183 billion a year earlier. The ability to secure memory components at acceptable cost will be the primary constraint on PS5 output going forward, Sony said, adding that margins on hardware are not expected to improve meaningfully from where they stood in fiscal 2025.
A broad tightening in the memory market has been driven by semiconductor suppliers prioritizing orders from AI infrastructure buildouts over consumer electronics customers. Through a combination of procurement strategy, product design adjustments, and sales initiatives, Sony said it has targeted keeping the net earnings drag from elevated memory costs below ¥30 billion in fiscal 2026. In March, Sony raised PS5 prices for the second time in under a year.
Even with console volume declining, the gaming segment's operating income is expected to jump 30% to ¥600 billion, with the improvement attributable to a stronger software mix from first-party titles and the fact that fiscal 2025 results were weighed down by ¥120.1 billion in Bungie-related impairment charges that will not recur.
The full-year results included several significant one-time charges. In addition to the Bungie impairments, Sony recorded ¥27.1 billion in losses tied to the shutdown of Pixomondo, its visual effects and virtual production business, as well as losses related to the abandonment of its electric vehicle joint venture with Honda $HMC.
Sony's fourth-quarter results were weaker on a standalone basis. Operating income for the quarter fell 24% to ¥163.5 billion even as revenue rose 8% to ¥3.04 trillion.