Sony Corp shows signs of fatigue as games, electronics push Q1 results lower

Japanese conglomerate Sony Corp (NYSE: SNE) reported a 1% year-over-year decline in total revenues in the first quarter of 2019, hurt by weakness in its gaming and electronics businesses. Q1 revenue of approx. $17.52 billion ($1.925 trillion yen) was lower than the street projection of $18.79 billion.

Sales in the Game & Network Services unit fell 3%, primarily due to a decrease in the contribution from first-party game software like God of War last year.

Meanwhile, hurt by the decrease in unit sales of TVs and Xperia smartphones, sales in the Electronics Products & Solutions segment decreased 15% year-on-year.

The lackluster sales in these two segments have forced the company to slash its full-year sales forecast. FY 2019 sales outlook for games division was reduced to 2.2 trillion yen, compared to the April forecast of 2.3 trillion yen.

Similarly, guidance for full-year sales in the electronics segment was cut down to 2.16 trillion yen from the earlier guidance of 2.24 trillion yen.

On a consolidated basis, the company currently expects full-year total revenues of 8.6 trillion yet, much lower than the April guidance of 8.8 trillion yen.

READ: Apple needs to clear many hurdles to push stock higher post Q3 earnings

Music and Pictures were among the better performing divisions in Q1, recording sales growth of 12% and 6% respectively.  

First-quarter earnings fell 32% to approximately $1.08 (119.22 yen) per share. Excluding certain one-time items, net income would have increased 4%.

Sony shares were up 3.29% during early trading hours on Tuesday. The stock has gained 12.3% in the year-to-date period.  

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