Sony Falls 5% on Guidance Cut on Gaming Weakness, Results Seen as ‘Negative’

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Sony (NYSE:SONY) slashed its operating income guidance for the full year, which sent shares of the Japanese electronics giant down almost 5% in premarket Friday.

The company sees operating income at 1.11 trillion yen, lower than the prior guidance of 1.16 trillion yen, and below the average analyst estimate of 1.2 trillion yen. Sony also sees net income of 800 billion yen, lower than the prior forecast of 830 billion yen, and the estimate of 880.12 billion yen.

Full-year revenue is now seen at 11.5 trillion yen, higher than the 11.4 trillion yen, and also higher than the 11.18 trillion yen consensus.

For its fiscal first quarter, Sony reported an operating income of 306.96 billion yen to top the estimate of 286.73 billion yen. Net sales were lower than expected as they came in at 2.31 trillion yen, below the average analyst estimate of 2.47 trillion yen.

A Citi analyst said FQ1 results were “negative” due to the weakness in the gaming market.

“Sony revised down for the full-year due mainly to games, and this is unlikely to eliminate a negative impression on the part of the market. However, management explained carefully that games and semiconductors are expected to recover from Q2, which could minimize the negative impression,” the analyst wrote in a client note.

An Oppenheimer analyst took note of improving supply issues for PlayStation. Overall, the macro challenges overshadowed FX benefits for Sony, the analyst added.