Sony Group - Q3 2026

Transcript

Operator (participant)

It's now time to begin the Sony Group Corporation earnings announcement. I am Ishii from the Corporate Communications Department, and I will be your moderator today. Today, Lin Tao, Corporate Executive Officer and CFO, will present the FY 2025 third quarter results and full-year forecast, followed by a Q&A session. The entire session is expected to last 65 minutes. To ensure our international audience can hear the presentation in Ms. Tao's own words, the English language earnings presentations will be delivered via a pre-recorded video.

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

Today, I will explain the content shown here. Sales of continuing operations in FY 2025 Q3 increased 1% compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year to JPY 3,713,700,000,000, and operating income increased 22% to JPY 515 billion. Both were record highs for the third quarter. Net income increased 11% to JPY 377.3 billion. The financial results by segment are shown here. We upwardly revised our full-year sales forecast from the previous forecast, 3% to JPY 12,300,000,000,000; operating income, 8% to JPY 1,540,000,000,000; and net income, 8% to JPY 1,130,000,000,000. We increased our forecast for operating cash flow 9% to JPY 1,630,000,000,000.

The forecast for each segment is shown here. Now I will turn to an overview of each business. First is the G&NS segment. FY 2025 Q3 sales decreased 4% year-on-year, primarily due to lower hardware unit sales. Operating income increased 19% year-on-year, primarily due to the positive impact of foreign exchange rates and the impact of increased sales and network services and first-party software, setting a record for the third quarter in this segment. We upwardly revised our FY 2025 sales forecast 4% from the previous forecast to JPY 4,630,000,000,000, and our operating income forecast 2% to JPY 510 billion.

User engagement trended well during the quarter, with the number of monthly active users across all of the PlayStation in December increasing 2% compared to the last December, to a record high of 132 million accounts. Total play time for the quarter increased 0.4% year-on-year. Although conditions in the console hardware market during year-end selling season were more challenging than expected, we were able to steadily expand our PS5 install base in line with our original plan and exceeded 92 million units on a cumulative selling basis. While PS5 hardware unit sales have decreased moderately in latter half of the console cycle, software revenue from the PlayStation Store reached a record high during the quarter, primarily driven by the contribution of major third-party franchise titles and new hit releases.

PlayStation Plus significantly contributed to the results of the quarter as the shift to higher tiers of the service continued. As for securing a supply of memory, we are already in a position to secure the minimum quantity necessary to manage the year-end selling season of next fiscal year. Going forward, we intend to further negotiate with various suppliers to secure enough supply to meet the demand of our customers. Given the stage of our console cycle, our hardware sales strategy can be adjusted flexibly, and we intend to minimize the impact of the increased memory cost on this segment going forward by prioritizing monetization of the install base to date and striving to further expand our software and network service revenue.

In the studio business, Ghost of Yotei, a temple title we released in October, exceeded the sales of the previous title in the same period of time and significantly contributed to the financial results of the quarter. Our established live service titles, like Helldivers 2 and MLB The Show, also contributed stable recurring revenue. We expect that Marathon, which is scheduled to be released on March 5th, will be enjoyed by many users, thanks to Bungie having strengthened the gaming experience. Next fiscal year, we plan to release new titles such as SAROS and Marvel's Wolverine, and we intend to enhance our effort to increase the revenue of our studio business. Next is Music segment. Primarily due to an increase in live events, sales, and streaming revenue in recorded music, FY 2025 Q3 sales increased 13% year-on-year.

Operating income increased 9%, reaching a record high for the third quarter, excluding one-time items. On a U.S. dollar basis, streaming revenues for the quarter increased 5% year-on-year in recorded music and 13% in music publishing. We upwardly revised our sales forecast 4% from the previous forecast to JPY 2,050,000,000,000, and our operating income forecast 16% to JPY 445 billion. We incorporated a remeasurement gain of approximately JPY 45 billion from the acquisition of an additional equity interest in Peanuts Holdings in the forecast for operating income. SMG artists delivered hits during the quarter, and the sales of SMG continued to increase by double digits year-on-year, like in the previous quarter. Rosalía's new album, LUX, reached number one globally in its first week on Spotify, and Peso Pluma's collaborative album, Dinastía, is one of the most streamed on Spotify.

These global successes and global hit artists are the result of SMG's strategic focus on discovering local artists and supporting their musical endeavors. Many SMG artists and songwriters received accolades and nominations at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, held in the U.S. earlier this month, with Bad Bunny winning Album of the Year for DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, as Beyoncé did last year. In Visual Media and Platform, the theatrical release of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba, The Movie: Infinity Castle, which has exceeded JPY 100 billion in global box office revenue, continued to contribute. And the mobile game, Fate/Grand Order, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in July 2025, contributed more to our results than expected. Next is the Pictures segment.

FY 2025 Q3 sales decreased 11% year-on-year, and operating income decreased 9%, primarily because the same quarter of the previous fiscal year benefited from the contribution of the blockbuster film, Venom: The Last Dance, and licensing revenue from other theatrical released films. Our forecast is unchanged from the previous forecast. In January, SPE signed a new Pay One licensing agreement with Netflix. Through this agreement, Netflix will stream on a global basis, SPE's future theatrical films in the Pay One window, the initial window within long TV licensing period that follows the theatrical and home entertainment periods. This agreement is an industry-first global licensing deal that will enable SPE to secure an even more stable revenue base during the period of the deal. Furthermore, the signing of this agreement is proof of SPE's excellent production capabilities and the power of its appealing IP.

As an independent production company, we will continue to pursue other licensing opportunities with a wide range of distribution partners beyond the Pay One window. Now, I will explain our additional investment in Peanuts IP, which we announced in December as an initiative that spans our Music and Pictures segments. Through this transaction, Sony will gain ownership of 80% of Peanuts Worldwide, which owns the rights and manages the business of Peanuts IP, one of the world's leading evergreen IPs. While closely collaborating with the family of Mr. Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, which owns the remaining 20%, we aim to further grow the scale of the business and further increase the value of the brand over the long term by leveraging the strengths of the Sony Group.

Specifically, we aim to enhance SMEJ's music, video, and event business by leveraging Peanuts IP and collaborating with SMEJ's artists and content. Furthermore, by utilizing SPE's production capabilities and distribution network, we aim to make Peanuts IP more accessible to a wider audience and share its charm with people all over the world. The transaction is expected to close during the current fiscal year, subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals by the relevant authorities. Next is the ET&S segment. FY 2025 Q3 sales decreased 7% year-on-year, and operating income decreased 23% year-on-year, primarily due to the impact of lower sales, partially offset by an improvement in operating expenses. Our full-year forecast remains unchanged from the previous forecast.

Despite a continued decline in sales in China due to reduced government subsidies and weakness in the overall market during the shopping season for Singles' Day, demand in the global interchangeable lens camera market during the quarter remained strong year-on-year, mainly in Asia. The Alpha 7 V, released in December, has been selling well as a new product for the volume zone of the full-frame mirrorless single-lens reflex camera market, and we expect it will continue to contribute to sales in the fourth quarter, ending March 31st, 2026. Regarding the impact of the situation in the market for memory, we are almost in a position to secure the quantity we need through the year-end selling season for next fiscal year. We will continue to monitor the situation while working to minimize the impact on profitability.

On January 20th, Sony signed an MOU with TCL aimed at forming a strategic partnership in the home entertainment field. In the MOU, both companies agreed that a joint venture between the two companies would operate Sony's home entertainment business, and we are negotiating the details with the intention of executing a definitive agreement by the end of March. By leveraging Sony's high definition and high fidelity technology, brand strength, and operational management capability, while utilizing TCL's advanced display technology, cost competitiveness, and vertical supply chain strength, the joint venture aims to further strengthen the competitiveness of this business and realize sustainable growth. Last is the I&SS segment. FY 2025 Q3 sales increased 21% year-on-year, and operating income increased 35%, both of which were record highs for the third quarter for the segment.

These are primarily due to an increase in sales volume and unit prices of mobile image sensors. We upwardly revised our sales forecast 5% to JPY 2,080,000,000,000, and operating income forecast 13% to JPY 350 billion, primarily driven by the increase in sales volume and sensors for mobile devices and the impact of foreign exchange rates. Mobile image sensor sales during the quarter increased significantly year-on-year due to a gradual recovery in the smartphone market, strong shipments for new products from our major customer, and a higher die-sized sensor. Because recent orders are stable, we believe that the supply chain concerns we mentioned at the previous earnings announcement have receded, and we have upwardly revised our annual shipment forecast for mobile image sensors.

Going forward, we think that the impact of the situation in the memory market will become more apparent, mainly in the form of fewer smartphones made, primarily for the low-end market. Since Sony's image sensors are primarily for the high-end market, at this time, we think the impact will be relatively small. We will continue to monitor the situation while keeping in close contact with our customers. In addition, we are continuing to take action to address low-margin business, as we mentioned at the previous earnings announcement. As a part of that, we have incorporated additional expenses for resource and asset optimization of the relevant business in our forecast for FY 2025 Q4. We will continue to focus on improving our business portfolio and raise our profitability.

To summarize, the G&NS, Music, and I&SS segment achieved record high operating income and are driving the profit growth of the Sony Group overall this quarter. We believe that the structure of profitability of the group is further improving. Given the continued uncertain business environment, we plan to carefully manage our business and consistently produce results as we approach the fiscal year-end. We intend to take actions this fiscal year to get off to a good start next fiscal year. As for shareholders' returns, today, we increased the maximum of our share repurchase facility established in November 2025 from JPY 100 billion to JPY 150 billion. This concludes my remarks.

Operator (participant)

That was Ms. Tao. Following the presentation, we will have a Q&A session for the media at 4:20 P.M., and for investors and analysts at 4:45 P.M. Each Q&A session is scheduled to last approximately twenty minutes. For those who have pre-registered to ask questions, please click the Join Webinar link and stay online while you wait. Regarding the procedure and precautions for asking questions, please refer to the invitation sent to you in advance. Please wait. The session will resume shortly.

Thank you for waiting. We'd like to begin the media Q&A session shortly. Please wait a few moments. Thank you for waiting. We'll start the Q&A session. First, we would introduce you today's speakers. Chief Financial Officer, CFO, Corporate Executive Officer, Lin Tao. Senior Vice President in charge of accounting, Hirotoshi Korenaga. Senior Vice President in charge of Corporate Planning and Control, Naoya Horii. We'll take questions from the media. Keep questions up to two per person. Please click Raise Hand button on the WebEx screen if you have questions. The first question is from Toyo Keizai, Umegaki-san.

Taku Umegaki (Senior Analyst)

Yes, I'm Umegaki from Toyo Keizai. Can you hear me?

Operator (participant)

Yes.

Taku Umegaki (Senior Analyst)

All right, so I'd like to ask two questions. The first question is about Marathon, and it's going to be released on March 5th, I understand, and it has been delayed. And what kind of considerations did you have until you decided to have this? And, well, in the past, there were several cases that has been, stopped short, but what kind of a learning did you have? And for the live service game, and what is the strategic significance of having that and this kind of a platform, I think, but to have, quite a number of, platforms, what is the significance for the group to have such platforms?

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

Yes, thank you for your question. And as for the Marathon, well, it has the user tests, and then from the users had feedback for Marathon. And in the game, so what was the good points and not good points, and such kind of a feedback we had taken into consideration, and we had modified. And this time around, so after the modification, we are very confident to release it on March 5th. And live service, the games, significance, you ask, but here, what is most important for us is that the live service is a recurring revenue.

And recurring revenue means that they're hit-driven, and if it becomes a hit, then for a year it can bring revenue. If not, become a hit, then no, revenue. So it's such a vol, not the volatility, high, studio, but it's going to give us a constant amount of revenue every year. So that's the merit of having a hit live service. But, well, it's not that we want to have so too many of them. It's not what we want to have. The ideal is that so-called AAA and live service game would become integrated into a portfolio management style. That's it for me.

Taku Umegaki (Senior Analyst)

The second question is about your stock price. You had announced your earnings results, and it was JPY 3+, but it's almost flat. So the market valuation is quite severe, I think, and the stock performance is not good because the memory had risen. But it's rather the Sony Group. It seems that there has been a harsher view on the Sony Group. So what do you think as a CEO? You have announced the share buyback, but the market capitalization, in order to raise the market capitalization, if you have any continuous way to keep that going up.

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

All right. Thank you for your question. And about the stock price, so, we had several information revisions, but it's not performing well. So, I think you have various thoughts about that, but one thing is that memory, the concerns for the memory supply and as a industry, yes, that is one concern, and the other is the entertainment stock generally speaking is because the capital AI related would go to the AI related. So I think that's why. And then, for us, what we can do is that, as a business, we would look at the fundamentals to make it even stronger, and the profitability we would improve so that the portfolio can be optimized.

For us, Sony, long-term strategy, we would believe in that so that we would implement that, so that the business performance can be improved, and such measures would be communicated message to the stock market so that the stock market would value our approach, and we are going to put our efforts into it. That's all for me.

Taku Umegaki (Senior Analyst)

The AI.

Operator (participant)

Well, excuse me, but that's at the end of your two questions. Next question. Yoshida-san from Nikkei, please. Yoshida from Nikkei, can you hear?

Yukio Yoshida (Analyst)

Yes, we hear. I also have two questions. First, about ET&S structural reform. Today, you have mentioned that the TV business, you're going to move to a joint venture with TCL, and you talked about synergies. So separating the TV business, what's the intent of that? And home entertainment, what's the scope? I'm sure that the details are being still discussed, so to the extent possible, can you describe the range that this covers? And also, smartphone also positioned as a structural reform business, and you have hitherto explained that they will be continued. Has there not been any change to that status? It is an option to collaborate with an external source? Thank you.

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

For the smartphone, we don't have such plans. With TCL, we have a strategic partnership for home entertainment. This is about the review of portfolio, and we are constantly doing that to deal with the changing business environment. Optimizing that is the management mission. Sony has assets that we have accumulated over many years, and we're combining that with the strengths of TCL. And so home entertainment business, including TV, can grow more through this partnership. That is the background to this partnership. The scope of what business to be covered, Horii will explain.

Naoya Horii (Senior VP of Corporate Planning and Control)

Thank you for the question. The strategic partnership, the scope of that, as you point out, it's TV and home audio. Those are the areas that we assume will be included.As you point out, the details are still being discussed, so at an appropriate timing, we would like to communicate to you. At this point of time, TV and home audio will be included in the scope.

Yukio Yoshida (Analyst)

Thank you. Second question about the game business. So this was mentioned in the previous question. So with the surging memory price, so you have secured the supply until the next year-end campaign. So you maybe have secured the supply, but will there be impact of the rising prices? For example, PS5, any price increases or the successor the timing that it will be introduced, and what will be the impact to the next fiscal year? Can you give us your assumptions, please?

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

So PS5, next fiscal year and onwards, what will be the impact there? For the business results for next fiscal year, we would like to inform you at that appropriate time. But our thinking is what we'd like to share with you. That is, PS5, since launch, it's in the sixth year, so 92 million units install base on a sell-in basis, we already have established. So we have been able to develop a very robust ecosystem, and this fiscal year as well, the majority of the sales is software contents and network service. And these areas, next fiscal year onwards, are going to continue to make significant, significant contributions, and that will be the part that will not be impacted by the memory price.

Now, as for the new PlayStation hardware sales, due to cost increases, there will be some impact. However, it's in the latter part of the life cycle, so that means that in terms of hardware sales, it's been expected all along that it will gradually decline or slow down. So there are several or a wide range of choices or options that we can take. So that's our basic thinking there.

Yukio Yoshida (Analyst)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Moving on to the next question. I'm very sorry, please ask both of your questions at the beginning. Yomiuri Newspaper, Nakayama-san, please. Nakayama-san, do you hear me?

Speaker 12

So this is Nakayama from Yomiuri. Do you hear me?

Operator (participant)

Yes.

Speaker 12

So I have two questions. Number one, about Music. The streaming revenue growth rate, this, so, do you think, the music streaming service will continue to do well? We would like to hear your prospects. And about I&SS, the image sensor for mobile, do you have any background on the increase in the unit price of image sensors for mobile?

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

I will answer the question on the Music business first. The Music business market, we see will continue to grow in the mid to long term. Of course, the extent of growth will differ due to the timing, but we believe there will be a constant growth of to about five to middle to latter single digit. And there are two drivers to this. First is DSP. That is platform that we offer service on. The ARPU or ARPU is going up, and also the number of users going up. So the average revenue per user and the number of users going up is driving the growth.

The second point about I&SS Semiconductor. The sensor, so this is the background of increase in the selling price of mobile sensors. As you know, in smartphone products, there is the camera feature is a main reason for increase in price. So the smartphone manufacturers are working to increase the camera resolutions as well as the camera features. The image sensors that we provide to the manufacturers, we want to increase the size, as well as increase the resolution and add new features. So large scale image sensors, as well as increased performance, is leading to higher price, and that is really contributing to our results this year. That's all.

Speaker 12

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

All right, so we take another question. So Free Press, Yamamoto-san, please.

Speaker 10

Yes, my name is Yamamoto, so let me ask questions. So about the structural reform and TCL, so we have the strategic alliance, but the display to have the higher resolution and the home entertainment, I think, though you have the high resolution, I think it is contributing to that, the technology and also the common kind of R&D. Do you separate the two, the technology and the common R&D base, in order to have the next phase of development? So about the strategic alliance, would you tell us your direction or your strategy?

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

Yes. Thank you for the question. So first, so we have the basic agreement, and for the technology and for what kind of a asset can we have to the joint venture to have the a definitive contract. So we are in discussion in order to aim for the final agreement. So if it is confirmed, then we would tell you when it is confirmed.

Operator (participant)

Running short on time, so the next one will be the last question. Shino-san of Asahi Shimbun, please. Shino-san, do you hear? Well, then, we'll move on to the next person. From Mainichi Shimbun, Seno-san, please. Do you hear us, Seno-san?

Speaker 11

Can you hear?

Operator (participant)

Yes, we can hear you.

Speaker 11

Excuse me, this is Seno from Mainichi Shimbun. Earlier, you talked about the PlayStation 5 life cycle, that you're entering the latter half of this life cycle. But last November, you talked about the Japanese dedicated model for PlayStation, a relatively cheap, a lower price model for the Japanese market. So what's the reason for introducing this kind of model in the latter part of the life cycle? And what will be the impact to the financial results? Has there been impact from introducing this new model? Thank you.

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

So the Japan model introduction, well, that was to enhance the presence of PlayStation in the Japanese market. It's one part of that effort. Compared with the global model, it was more reasonably priced. And so publishers and users appreciated that more affordable price. And after launch, in terms of sell-through, it has created an uplift. Now, so this was not a special model just for that seasonal effort, but for the mid to long term for the Japanese market, we think that this had a strategic significance. So we want many users to buy this so that publishers will make great games. So we think in that regard, this will have mid to long-term impact.

Speaker 13

Now, it's time to conclude the Q&A session for the media. So the Q&A session will for investors and analysts start from 4:45 P.M. So we will be starting the Q&A sessions for investors and analysts in due course, so please wait until we resume. Okay, thank you for waiting. We will now begin the Q&A session for investors and analysts. I am Kondo from the IR department, and I will be your moderator. The speakers will be the same three individuals as in the media session. We will now start the Q&A session. So please keep to two questions, and please ask both of the questions at the beginning. Please click the Raise Hand button in the WebEx screen if you have any questions. JPMorgan with Ayada-san, please.

Junya Ayada (Executive Director and Research Analyst)

Thank you. I'm Ayada from JPMorgan. I have two questions. The first question is about gaming. The play time and so what do you think about the status of play time and spending in the holiday season? Active users have gone up 2%, but play time is flat and software network revenue is going up. But thinking about the price up, I think in terms of value or volume, it's more or less flat. So it seems like it's dwindling a little bit. Is it because of the economic cycle, business cycle or console cycle, or is this an impact from the title lineup, or are people using time for things other than games? So we would like your take on that. Your second question. So this might be an abstract question. The impact of AI to the entertainment industry, how should we see that? The.

For music production and game development, already 90% of creators use AI, so based on the data. So for by the creators using AI, if there's more content, that would be a very positive effect on platforms such as PlayStation and Crunchyroll. Or, if users use more of their casual more time in casual contents using AI, would that be negative? So I think the repercussions will be different, whether it's music, anime, games, or video production. So please share your view.

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

Thank you for the question. About the engagement of games in the holiday season, I think this is transitioning quite well. Of course, the play time. I think there are many factors influencing the play time, but I think the biggest factor, I think, is whether there are hit games.

Up till now, the games, maybe the large-scale games, which everyone has been playing up till now, the engagement has gone down, and instead, the players are playing new games. As a platform, we see a momentum, but depending on the game title, how that is played and the play time will be different. Towards the next fiscal year, the large-scale titles will be launched, so I'm very optimistic about this. And about how we see AI, as you say, music, game, and animation. The how AI is used or the positioning of AI is different. There is high affinity between AI and game and animation. In the long term, I think it's a very positive thing that there will be more content. But there would be impact in many areas, especially how you develop and produce.

So this process, from idea to game, I think would be changing. But it's still early in the day to say what the impact would be and what would be the impact on the cost. So at this point of time, it's difficult to really say, but what we can say right now is to use a lot of AI. So we promote using AI, especially in game production. And if that disrupts the existing process, we should be the one disrupting rather than the one being disrupted. That's all. Thank you.

Speaker 13

Thank you. All right, so next question from BofA Securities, Mr. Hirakawa.

Mikio Hirakawa (Senior Equity Analyst)

Yes, BofA Securities. My name is Hirakawa. So, our first question is. Well, it's a rather abstract question, but this is the second year of the midterm business plan, but the operating profit growth is like 10% average as you go. And then this year it has progressed very smoothly. And the concern from the market is that the next year the profit level, because of the memory or the untransparent price movements, then it might not be so smooth.

Then, what I want to ask you here is, now, in the midterm business plan, so what kind of a certainty do you have, and what kind of risk factors do you have in achieving, or what kind of a upside do you have? So if you can allude to that, is the first question. And the second question is about what you have said, so image sensor, I&SS. So, what I have heard is a high end, is so ASP rise, and the volume expansion, you can have both. So that, I think, was the main thing that you wanted to message to us.

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

Okay, thank you for the question. And about the midterm plan, so the second year, and we are going on quite smoothly. Yes, that is the feeling we have. About the memory price surge, we can understand the concern from the market about this. This earnings results for the next year, I think we can go into this more deeper. Basically speaking, we would have the momentum very strong here, and the memory cost rise. We have to manage that, and that's the kind of a direction we have. The profitability, of course, we have in mind.

For the attainment of the midterm plan, how certain we are or how confident we are, so it depends on each business segment, but let's say game and Sony Pictures. Next year's software lineup is quite good. For those segments, I think we have quite a positive kind of a outlook. For the detail, I don't think I can go into here. When the earnings results for the 2025 fiscal year, I can maybe tell you more about it. And the ESP and the semiconductor and the volume. Okay, for this question, I would like to ask Horii-san to answer.

Naoya Horii (Senior VP of Corporate Planning and Control)

All right. Thank you for the question. So in the speech, we have said that this year, what we have seen this year, okay? And what we are seeing SP and the volume, also, we have a momentum. So for next year, it's like a launchpad, let's say, that it's in a good position. So I think we can say that we are in a positive position.

Having said that, in the semiconductor business, there's other businesses like game or e-com, and. So memory market condition effect, and let's say the selection or the options range is different, is what I feel. So, the final product manufacturers, well, so what kind of measures would they be taking because of this memory market condition? And we would like to have a close contact communication with the customers so that we can have a good understanding of each of the customers we have. And that's the procedure we take, but I think we are rather in a passive mode concerning this, because of this kind of a characteristic business.

For next year, I think we have a good launchpad in place, and that's exactly as what you have pointed out. Thank you.

Speaker 13

Next from Mizuho Securities, Nakane-san, please.

Yoshihiko Nakane (Managing Director and Chief Equity Strategist)

Thank you. Can you hear?

Speaker 13

Yes, we hear you.

Yoshihiko Nakane (Managing Director and Chief Equity Strategist)

Thank you. Two questions. First, so expanding the share buyback. So before you used it up, the facility is being expanded. I think this is the first time you're doing that. You have higher cash flow, stock price is low. I think those are the backgrounds. So talk about what discussions you had in the board meeting, and what's the message of expanding this facility in addition to what's in the release? That's the first question. Second, about the home entertainment separation. So from development, design, manufacture, that part, I think it's easy to separate cleanly. But for sales, you have the common platform and domestic and overseas, I think it's still quite a huge size.

I understand that the details are still to be worked out, but for the next fiscal year, in terms of sales, how is it going to be handled? And, on the ET&S side, inclusive of structural reform, is there a possibility of some adjustments to be made? Give us some clues, please. Thank you for the questions.

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

First, about increasing the facility to repurchase shares. So as you say, the business results and the cash flow is better than anticipated, so we want to increase our returns based on that. But in terms of the window, that is, up until middle of May, so JPY 50 billion increase is what we've decided on this time. So the company's momentum of earnings and the fundamentals, we are confident about that.

That is the message that we would like you to take from this increase in the facility. About the ET&S, for next fiscal year, basically, ET&S will continue to operate. It will have its budget in the same way. And, we will communicate in that way. For the joint venture, it's to start from April of fiscal 2027. So in terms of the additional structural reform for the portfolio, it's always dynamic. So looking at the business situation, it's our job to optimize that. It's one of our main missions. As of now, nothing has been decided yet. That's all. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you very much. SMBC Nikko Securities, Katsura-san, please.

Ryosuke Katsura (Senior Analyst)

So I'm Katsura from SMBC Nikko Securities. I have two questions on game and semiconductor. About the gaming question, this quarter, how we see the profit, the third quarter, so the compared to the real profitability of second and third quarter, first and second quarters, I think the third quarter profit has gone down. This is about the domestic version of hardware, and you did also promotion activity. And also the procurement side, there has been maybe you purchased a memory in order to secure the inventory. So the landing of the third quarter and also the full year, so the postponement of first-party title might be a negative factor. So these numbers seemed a little bit low.

So maybe you have included some of the countermeasures towards the next term. The second point is I&SS. You said you will be taking measures in the fourth quarter. So if you can say, we would like you to share us the scale of this measure. So my question is about your plan towards the next year. Thank you for the question.

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

About the third quarter profitability for gaming going down compared to the first and second quarter, so there was the main reason was the end of the year sale promotion of the hardware. In addition to the Japan domestic model, we did global promotion, and that led to many users purchasing the console. And that, due to that, the profit went down in the third quarter, but this will contribute to the mid to long-term lifetime value. And towards the end of the fiscal year, as of now, the inventory, we do not have any plans to do anything extraordinary on the inventory. I&SS, we have factored in a part of that into the fourth quarter. Horii will respond.

Naoya Horii (Senior VP of Corporate Planning and Control)

So as we have explained, the business balance within I&SS segment and some of the assets depreciation, amortization done in acceleration. So this type of treatment is currently being processed. And about the scale? About JPY 20 billion. So this one-time cost of to JPY 20 billion is will factor into the fourth quarter. Thank you.

Speaker 13

All right, so, we have not much remaining time, so the next question is going to be the last. Excuse us, but, please keep your question just to one. So, Mr. Munakata from Goldman Sachs, please.

Minami Munakata (Equity Research Analyst)

Yes. My name is Munakata from Goldman Sachs. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to ask question. I think you have been saying about the generative AI. I'd like to ask question about that. And so last week, Project Genie was announced, and basically speaking, generative AI, I think has opportunity and also a threat. So in the stock market, the generative AI, the creation might be done by that, so that a very interesting game can be made in an instant. So that I think a threat is more strong here.

But in the game creation, so there has been some comments that to have it in a positive manner, but with the generative AI becoming developing. So what is the strength of your game studios and game development? What is your strength in that?

Lin Tao (Corporate Executive Officer and CFO)

So, I appreciate you to ask, to answer this question. Thank you. Well, but the generative AI, so, in a very various ways, there are trials going on, and now it's in a test stage, I think. And there are very interesting things that's happening, but, before, I think it's before the commercialization. And as for game, it's not just game, but, so AI, I think, it can be in a toolbox that, that there's a very strong tool in the toolbox. That's kind of a feeling we have against AI.

So the tool itself, it's not going to be a business. So I think we need the sensitivity of the artist and the tool to integrate in order to have another business chance or to have entertainment. So that's the kind of understanding we have. In that sense, AI, I don't think it's a threat, but so that the creators can use AI fast way, and then we are going to help them make it into commercial product. So I think that's Sony's mission. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

With that, we would like to conclude the earnings announcement of Sony Group. Thank you very much for joining.