Don’t be quick to write off Japanese electronics and entertainment giant Sony , despite the latest round of disappointing earnings.
At least that’s what analysts were suggesting, even as the company saw a 54.3 percent on-year decline in operating income to 92.4 billion yen ($820.32 million) in the October-December quarter, leading Sony to cut its full-year outlook on Thursday.
“Most people would look at the headlines and might have gotten confused, but the underlying profitability is very, very strong,” Atul Goyal, an equity analyst at Jefferies, told CNBC’s ” Squawk Box ” on Friday.
The market seemed to have taken note as Sony shares jumped 6 percent to 3,571 yen Friday morning in Tokyo .
Sony cut its forecast for operating income by 30 billion yen from its November predictions to 240 billion yen for the full fiscal year ending Mar. 31.
A key reason behind Sony’s unimpressive quarterly headline numbers, and the cut in outlook, is a 112.1 billion yen non-cash goodwill impairment charge for its struggling Columbia Pictures unit announced a few days before the earnings. Sony bought Columbia Pictures Entertainment in 1989.
Sony also revised its expectations on future profitability of its motion pictures business due to the recent performances of its home entertainment business which, the company said, was facing an “acceleration of market decline.
