Sony raises guidance as Q1 profit beats forecast on strong gaming business

Sony is expected to be a major beneficiary of the launch of "Grand Theft Auto VI" on November 19 as Microsoft's Xbox business retrenches.

In the first quarter Sony sold 1.6 million PlayStation 5 consoles, roughly a third fewer than the same period a year earlier.

Take-Two Interactive Software could sell 30 million to 35 million "GTA VI" units by year-end, according to a forecast from Ampere Analysis analyst Piers Harding-Rolls.

Other games coming to PS5 include the major in-house title "God of War Laufey", which is due for release in February.

Sony reiterated on Friday it has secured enough memory chip supply for the current financial year.

"We have secured the quantity of memory necessary to meet our projected sales volume for FY26, and there is no change to our plan for hardware profitability for FY26 to remain similar to FY25," it said in an earnings statement.

In the April-June quarter, group operating profit rose 40% to 476.5 billion yen due to the strength of the gaming and image sensors businesses.

The company raised the forecast for its image sensors business, citing higher sales and exchange rates.

For the July-September quarter, analysts on average expect Sony to report an operating profit of 465 billion yen. The company's shares were down 8% year-to-date ahead of the earnings.

TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Sony hiked its full-year earnings forecast on Friday, as strong performance at its gaming business helped the Japanese conglomerate deliver a better-than-expected jump of 40% in first-quarter profit.