Sony Group Corporation posted record second-quarter operating income and raised its annual forecasts while PS5 hardware units fell despite higher PlayStation activity in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026.
Sales for the three months reached ¥3.4294 trillion, up 10% from a year earlier. Operating income advanced 45% to ¥622.3 billion, and net income attributable to Sony Group Corporation stockholders rose 44% to ¥449.6 billion. Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao said, “Both were record highs for the second quarter,” referring to sales and operating income.
The Game & Network Services division brought in ¥1.2085 trillion in sales, a 9% increase, while operating income grew 83% to ¥220.1 billion. Sony cited network services and sales of first-party and third-party game software as contributors. PlayStation had 127 million monthly active users in September, up 7% year over year and a September record; quarterly playtime rose 4%. PS5 hardware units were 2.6 million on a sell-in basis, down from 4 million a year earlier.
The operating-income comparison includes a prior-year ¥31.5 billion impairment on Bungie assets and ¥18.3 billion in expenses to correct development costs Sony had capitalized earlier. Sony said the division’s operating income would have risen 29% without those items. Higher memory prices affected the PS5 hardware business, while promotions, pricing adjustments and cost reductions helped offset that pressure.
Sony’s Pictures division recorded sales of ¥513.7 billion, compared with ¥346 billion a year earlier, and operating income of ¥92.6 billion, up from ¥13.9 billion. Sony credited higher theatrical revenue, primarily from Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The company’s supplemental data listed the film’s worldwide box-office revenue at $2.5 billion through Sept. 30, 2026.
Sony’s annual outlook after the record quarter puts FY2026 sales at ¥13 trillion, operating income at ¥1.87 trillion and net income at ¥1.33 trillion. Those forecasts are 4%, 9% and 10% above its July projections, respectively. The fiscal year ends March 31, 2027.
