Benzinga | Aug 4, 2021 08:46AM EDT

PlayStation 5 Maker Sony Clocks 15% Revenue Growth, Sells 2.3M PS5 In Q1, Updates FY21 Outlook

* Sony Group Corp (NYSE:SONY) reported first-quarter FY21 sales growth of 15% year-on-year to ?2.26 trillion.

* Revenue from Game & Network Services (G&NS) rose 9.7% Y/Y to ?615.8 billion, Music increased 77.8% Y/Y to ?254.9 billion, Pictures climbed 29.6% Y/Y to ?204.7 billion, Electronics Products & Solutions (EP&S) grew 214.9% Y/Y to ?576.3 billion, Imaging & Sensing Solutions (I&SS) rose 11.9% Y/Y to ?218.1 billion, and Financial Services declined 25.9% Y/Y to ?414.4 billion.

* All Other sales decreased 3.3% Y/Y to ?22 billion.

* Sony sold 2.3 million PS5 units in Q1, down 30% compared to Q4, 0.5 million PS4 units, and 2.2 million TVs up 47% Y/Y.

* The gross margin contracted 187 bps to 44.7%, while the operating margin expanded by 111 bps to 12.4%.

* EPS of ?169.22 increased 8.9% Y/Y. Net income of ?213.12 billion grew 4.35% Y/Y.

* Sony generated ?198.7 billion in operating cash flow and held ?2.1 trillion in cash and equivalents.

* Outlook: Sony sees FY21 sales of ?9.7 trillion. It raised the operating income guidance to ?980 billion from ?930 billion earlier.

* Sony reduced the operating cash flow guidance to ?890 billion from ?910 billion, but it raised the net income guidance to ?700 billion from ?660 billion.

* Price action: SONY shares traded higher by 0.39% at $104.08 in the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.

* Photo by Marco Verch via Flickr