Sony Group reported on Nov. 5 that operating profit for its second fiscal quarter, ended Sept. 30, 2026, rose 45% year over year to ¥622.3 billion. Net income increased 44% to ¥449.6 billion, while quarterly sales grew 10% to ¥3.429 trillion. The company raised its full-year operating-profit forecast by 9% to ¥1.3 trillion for the year ending in March 2027. Strong results from the film Spider-Man: Brand New Day, along with growth in music and image-sensor businesses, helped drive the improvement.
Film business becomes a major earnings driver
Sony Pictures recorded second-quarter operating profit of ¥92.6 billion, about seven times the level a year earlier. The company said the strong global performance of Spider-Man: Brand New Day helped lift its pictures business. Music revenue rose 10% to ¥598.4 billion, supported mainly by streaming. Operating profit in the imaging and sensing solutions segment increased 12% to ¥154.6 billion, reflecting continued demand for high-end image sensors.
PlayStation hardware shipments decline
Sony shipped 2.6 million PlayStation 5 consoles in the quarter, down from 4 million in the same period a year earlier, a decline of about 35%. The PS5 is in the later stage of its product cycle, and hardware shipments are naturally facing pressure. Higher memory-chip prices, driven in part by demand from AI data centers, are also raising costs for gaming hardware. Sony said it had aligned with suppliers on the memory quantities needed for projected hardware sales in the next fiscal year and was using promotional adjustments and cost controls to offset higher prices.
Software and network services continue to grow
PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 software sales totaled 88.2 million units in the quarter, up 7.9 million from a year earlier. First-party software sales reached 8.2 million units. PlayStation Network had about 127 million monthly active users, an increase of 8 million year over year. Network-services revenue rose 19.5% to ¥218.3 billion. The figures show that software and subscriptions continue to support Sony’s gaming business even as console shipments decline.
Higher guidance, but supply-chain risks remain
Sony raised its full-year operating-profit forecast from ¥1.2 trillion to ¥1.3 trillion, an increase of about 9%. It also improved its outlook for image sensors and music. However, semiconductor and memory supply remain exposed to demand from AI infrastructure, which could increase costs for PlayStation and other consumer electronics. Sony shares rose after the results, but future performance will depend on film releases, game launches, hardware demand and chip costs.