By Sam Nussey
TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Sony on Friday hiked its full-year operating profit forecast by 8% to 1.72 trillion yen ($10.72 billion), citing the strength of its gaming business.
The Japanese conglomerate has received plaudits for its pivot to entertainment, but the market is concerned about the impact of AI and a memory chip price boom on its business.
The PlayStation maker pointed to the impact of U.S. tariff refunds, a boost from exchange rates and cost control for the rosier outlook
for its gaming unit.
In the April-June quarter, group operating profit rose 40% to 476.5 billion yen, beating analyst estimates, due to the strength of the gaming and image sensors businesses.
Sony has said it has secured memory chip supply for this financial year but expects continued high prices next year.
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.
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 PlayStation 5 include the major in-house title "God of War Laufey", which is due for release in February.
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.
Camera lens maker Tamron said on Thursday it had received an acquisition proposal from Sony and established a committee to review its options.
Sony is a leading manufacturer of cameras and image sensors, while Tamron is a supplier of lenses for cameras made by Sony and rivals Nikon and Canon.
The company raised the forecast for its image sensors business, citing higher sales and exchange rates.
($1 = 160.5000 yen)
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jamie Freed)
