Sony shares surge 18% a day after firm upgrades outlook

Shares in Sony surged on 5 February, touching their maximum allowable 18% daily limit briefly, a day after the struggling electronics major predicted a lower net loss for the fiscal year ending 31 March.

Sony's stock finished at 3,101.50 yen in Tokyo trade, up 12.01% from 4 February, when it forecast a lower net loss of 170bn yen ($1.45bn, £951m, €1.27bn) for the fiscal year as cost cuts, and surging sales of its image sensors and PlayStation 4 gaming consoles helped boost third-quarter profit.

Sony's stock has doubled in value over the past year and figures among the top performers on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), Reuters reported, despite the fact that the firm will book its sixth net loss in seven years this year.

On 4 February, the Japanese firm said its preliminary results showed that operating profit for the October-December quarter had doubled to 178.3bn yen ($1.52bn) while sales rose 6% to 2.56tn yen.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had on average predicted an operating profit of 96.6bn yen on sales of 2.38tn yen.

Sony also said that probing last year's devastating cyber-attack and fixing problems at its Hollywood studio -- Sony Pictures Entertainment -- will cost some $35m, but added that it will not have a "material" impact on earnings.

Image sensors

On 2 February, Sony said it will invest 105bn yen in its semiconductor arm to boost the production capacity for imaging sensors.

The firm said it expects the demand for CMOS image sensors, used in smartphones and tablet computers, to grow further.

In October 2014, Sony forecast a net loss of 230bn yen for the year ending 31 March.