Sony Shares Sink After Company Reports Worse Q4 Loss Than Expected

Sony Corp. reported early Friday morning that it had a per-share loss of 12 cents in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2017, using current foreign exchange rates. The company’s loss per share was worse than the 2-cent loss one analyst had forecasted, per Yahoo Finance.

During the same quarter a year ago, Sony reported earnings of 20 cents per share.

Revenue for the quarter, ending March 31, fell short of the analyst’s expectations as well. Sony reported revenue of $17.8 billion, while the analyst projected revenue of $19.6 billion. Sony’s revenue during the same quarter a year ago was $17.4 billion, using current foreign exchange rates.

Also Read: 'Venom': Sony Finally Unveils the Symbiote in New Trailer for Tom Hardy Film (Video)

Sony’s gaming business continues to be a boon to the Japanese company. Revenue for Sony’s gaming segment increased 13 percent year-over-year for the full fiscal year, the company said, due mainly to increase in PlayStation 4 software sales.

The film studio also had an improved year, as revenue at Sony Pictures increased 10 percent year-over-year on a U.S. dollar basis. The studio’s full-year sales increased thanks to strong worldwide theatrical performances for “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.”

Also Read: Dwayne Johnson's 'Jumanji' Becomes Sony's Highest-Grossing Film Ever

The gains at the film studio were partially offset by lower TV licensing revenues for catalog product, Sony said. TV production revenue, however, increased due to higher licensing revenues for series like “The Goldbergs,” “The Good Doctor” and “Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams.”

Revenue at the company’s media networks increased year-over-year thanks to higher advertising and subscription revenues resulting from the acquisition of TEN Sports Network, as well as improved ratings.

Sony’s shares were down more than 6 percent in premarket trading Friday, but they’ve been on a tear in the last year, gaining more than 45 percent in 12 months.

Also Read: Amazon Doubles Q1 Earnings Predictions, Stock Jumps to All-Time High

Sony did not touch on the transition at the helm in its early Friday morning financial filing.

Kaz Harai’s exit as CEO took effect April 1, a day after the fiscal fourth quarter ended. Harai was replaced by former CFO Kenichiro Yoshida.

The departure came after some of Sony’s U.S. assets, mainly the film and TV groups, were reportedly up for sale last year.

Hollywood's Biggest Brands Haunted by Hackers, From HBO to Disney (Photos)

Since the high-profile hack of Sony Pictures in 2014, cybersecurity has become one of Hollywood's top concerns as more studios and networks continue to become prime targets.
The biggest and most consequential hack to hit Hollywood was the Sony Pictures hack of 2014. Spurred by the studio's then-upcoming comedy "The Interview," about a plot to assassinate Kim Jong-Un, North Korean hackers were able to access employee information, emails, unreleased projects and other damaging information.
Sony
Netflix fell victim to a hack in 2017 when a group called "The Dark Overlord" stole episodes of "Orange Is the New Black" from a post-production house. When the streamer failed to meet ransom demands, the group released 10 episodes of the series weeks ahead of the scheduled premiere.
Netflix
After The Dark Overlord successfully released "Orange Is the New Black," the group took to Twitter promising to target other companies next. The group named ABC its next target in a vague tweet, but did not specify which show or shows it was threatening to release.
ABC
When The Dark Overlord took "Orange Is the New Black" from Larson Studios, it also reportedly made off with other unaired shows, including "NCIS: Los Angeles" and "Portlandia." ABC, NBC, FX, National Geographic, E!, Disney Channel and Lifetime were also contacted by the FBI, who was investigating the incident, to notify them that their work may have been compromised.
CBS
Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed in a company town hall meeting that the film studio had received a ransom demand from a hacker who claimed to have stolen one of their unreleased films. Reports said the pirated film was "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," though it was never released. Iger later said in an interview that he believed it to be a hoax.
Getty Images
UTA suffered a "malware incident" in April, in which hackers held the company's computer systems hostage, demanding payment in bitcoin. Meetings were canceled and pushed, with the talent agency effectively shut down as the company raced to respond. Outside investigators concluded that no sensitive information was compromised.
Getty Images
The Sundance Film Festival also suffered a cyberattack in 2017. The box office was forced to go offline for roughly 40 minutes as the festival responded to the situation, but no screenings were affected by the outage. "Our artist's voices will be heard and the show will go on," the festival said in a statement.
Getty Images
In the middle of the seventh season run of its biggest hit "Game of Thrones," HBO suffered a cyber breach in which hackers reportedly obtained a copy of the script for an upcoming episode. Unaired episodes of "Ballers" and "Room 104" were also stolen and released online.
HBO

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Since 2014’s massive Sony hack, Hollywood continues to be compromised

Since the high-profile hack of Sony Pictures in 2014, cybersecurity has become one of Hollywood's top concerns as more studios and networks continue to become prime targets.

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Hollywood's Biggest Brands Haunted by Hackers, From HBO to Disney (Photos)

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