Despite a rather depressed flurry of Q2 earnings calls, Sony Corp have released a reasonably robust set of financial results. Entertainment lawyer Brandon Blake, from Blake & Wang P.A, updates us on this rare bright light in the currently suppressed economic climate.
Pictures Division Soars
For the pictures division, particularly, it’s been a good quarter. Revenue climbed 41% to $2.64B yen, around $201M. This builds on the fiscal first-quarter profit of $394M, up 70% on the 2021 period. This was primarily due to TV series delivery, boosted licensing deals, and home entertainment revenue. They’ve also seen a boost from their newly-acquired anime-specialist streaming platform, Crunchyroll.
They did have fewer theatrical releases than the previous year period, which is to be expected as things get back to ‘normal’ after the backlog created by the pandemic environment. Sony only released two theatrical films in the period, Morbius and the smaller Father Stu, as opposed to three in the same period in 2021.
Full-Year Forecast Unchanged
Unlike many of the other earnings we’ve seen reported, Sony also hasn’t adjusted its anticipated full-year revenue benchmarks. Full-year profit is expected to even out at $386M according to current benchmarks.
Additionally, there is a slate for the new year of 17 movies expected to receive a full North American theatrical release, including an extended re-release of top-performer, Spider-Man: No Way Home and an animated film in the same franchise, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
With most companies opting very conservative on their financial expectations for the coming year, it’s nice to see a rare sign of upward growth from one of the key players on the Hollywood scene. While it’s too early for a real celebration, of course, it’s a good indicator of things to come from the studio.
