Sam Nussey

TOKYO, (Reuters) – Japan Sony (NYSE:) Group Corp reported Wednesday that it saw a 32% increase in operating profit for the third quarter. Analysts were shocked by the feat of “Spider-Man: no Way Home”.

For the three months ending Dec. 31, operating profit reached 465.2 billion Japanese yen (4.05 billion). Comparable to an average profit estimate of 351.6 trillion yen from the nine Refinitiv analysts.

Sony raised its full-year profit projection to 1.2 trillion Japanese yen, up from 1.04 trillion. Refinitiv data shows that the prediction exceeds an average of 1.09 trillion yen profit projection from 24 analysts.

In the current financial year, the conglomerate, which includes entertainment and sensors as well as financial services, switched from U.S. GAAP to IFRS accounting.

As revenue increased more than twice, profit at the company’s pictures business rose more than sevenfold to 149.4 million yen.

The receipts for the movie “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”, and the licensing agreement of “Seinfeld” were also good factors in boosting sales at the pictures section.

Sony also saw a rise in profit due to the sale of GSN Games, a mobile gaming company.

Sony has seen strong demand for the PlayStation 5 (PS5) gaming console, which was launched in November 2020. It is however struggling to make enough consoles because of a lack of semiconductors.

Sony reported that it sold 3.9 Million PS5 units during the third quarter. This includes the crucial year-end season for shopping, and brought the total number of told units to 17.3M.

Last year, the group announced that it would spend 2 trillion Japanese yen in strategic investments over three years. This includes a push for more subscribers to its entertainment and gaming services. It also streamlines its electronics business.

Bungie Inc. was the creator of “Halo” and the company bought it Tuesday for $3.6 Billion. This follows the sale of XBox console manufacturer Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:), announced that last month, it purchased Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ;)’s “Call of Duty” manufacturer for $69 Billion.

Japanese technology company, Japanese consumer tech giant may now expand to electric vehicles. Chief Executive Kenichiro Yoshida presented a brand new prototype for an electric vehicle (EV) and announced that the company would be creating a mobility business last month at Las Vegas tech fair.

The growing market for EVs has prompted new entrants in the automotive markets. Sony’s EVs are a way for the company to transform automobiles from mere transportation devices into entertainment areas.

Sony stated that it would choose new partners for the EV project based upon what technology they have.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., (TSMC), announced that in November it agreed to construct a $7.4 billion Japanese chip plant. This will provide semiconductors to Sony for its image-sensor business beginning 2024.

Sony stock closed at 4.9% Wednesday, ahead of earnings. They have declined 7.4% year to date.

($1 = 114.7300 yen)