TOKYO, Feb 5 — Shares in Japanese giant Sony gained almost six per cent on Thursday after it hiked its full-year sales and profit forecasts, as the weaker yen helped its PlayStation video games division.

The firm expects net profit of ¥1.13 trillion (RM28.4 billion) in the 2025-26 fiscal year, up from its previous projection of ¥1.05 trillion given in November, and a six-per cent rise on last year.

It also increased its revenue forecast to ¥12.3 trillion from ¥12.0 trillion and its operating profit projection to ¥1.54 trillion from ¥1.43 trillion, a statement said.

In the previous year, Sony posted a net profit of ¥1.07 trillion, sales of ¥12.0 trillion and operating profit of ¥1.28 trillion.

Its forecast for the estimated impact of tariffs imposed on Japanese imports by US President Donald Trump’s administration remained at ¥50 billion.

Trade officials in July reached a deal that saw Washington lower tariffs on Japanese goods to 15 per cent from a threatened 25 per cent.

The upbeat message about its gaming business comes despite the fact that Sony’s PlayStation 5, which launched in 2020, is beginning to get old.

While it increased its forecast for revenues for its Games and Network Services (G&NS) division to ¥4.6 trillion, this is down from last year’s ¥4.7 trillion.

Important for the PlayStation’s continued sales is the hotly anticipated upcoming release of “Grand Theft Auto VI”.

GTA’s creators Rockstar Games last year again delayed the launch, this time until November.

Sony’s announcement comes a day after shares in Nintendo, maker of the rival Switch 2, dived 11 per cent on concerns over software sales and the impact of a memory chip shortage on its consoles.

The AI boom has pushed up prices and shipments of conventional NAND and DRAM memory chips, while demand for high‑bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI servers has soared.

Analysts pointed to what they see as a lacklustre line-up of new Nintendo games, while the global chip crunch also threatens higher manufacturing costs.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said at a post-results briefing Tuesday that higher memory chip prices could potentially weigh on profits, Bloomberg News reported.

Sony made no comment on the chip crunch in its earnings release, which analysts say could also hit its hardware products like cameras, TVs and smartphones, as well as its image sensor segment.

For its third quarter, Sony’s net profit rose 11 per cent to ¥377.3 billion on sales of ¥3.71 trillion, an increase of one per cent. — AFP