Sony Pictures Q2 Profit Surges 527% to $581 Million as 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' Reaches $2.52 Billion Worldwide
TOKYO — Sony Group reported fiscal second-quarter results on November 5, 2026. For the three months ended September 30, group operating profit rose 45% year over year to 622.3 billion yen (about $3.95 billion), beating an average estimate of 505 billion yen from 12 analysts polled by LSEG. Group revenue rose 10% to 3.429 trillion yen and net income increased 44% to 450 billion yen. Sony raised its full-year profit outlook by 9% and also lifted its forecasts for its music and image sensor units.
The sharpest gain came from filmed entertainment. Sony Pictures Entertainment revenue climbed 37% year over year to $3.23 billion, while operating income surged 527% to $581 million, calculated by Variety at Sony's internal reporting rate of 159.3 yen to the dollar. Theatrical revenue jumped roughly elevenfold to $1.28 billion.
The driver was 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day,' released on July 31 on a $225 million production budget. The film has grossed $2.52 billion worldwide — $958.89 million in North America and $1.562 billion internationally — making it the third-highest-grossing movie in history, behind only 'Avatar' and 'Avengers: Endgame.' Speaking with Variety's Cynthia Littleton at France's Lumière Summit in September, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group chairman and CEO Tom Rothman said the film, starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker and Zendaya as MJ, is "not so much a superhero film, but a 'super-person' film" that connected through emotion rather than visual effects alone: "It's very human. It's very emotional. It's got plenty of whiz-bang, but that's not what the secret is. The secret is it's a relatable story that almost everybody has related to." Two horror releases added steady grosses in the quarter: Zach Cregger's 'Resident Evil,' at $400 million worldwide, and 'Insidious: Out of the Further,' at $171.5 million worldwide. The weak spot at the studio was television: revenue in the television productions segment fell 31% to $483 million.
Gaming also grew sharply. Game & Network Services revenue rose 9% to 1.208 trillion yen and operating income jumped 83% to 220 billion yen, as higher game software and PlayStation network service sales outweighed slower hardware: PlayStation 5 sales were 2.6 million units in the quarter, down from 4.0 million a year earlier, while monthly active users rose to 127 million. Music revenue rose 10% to 598.4 billion yen and operating income grew 6% to 122.8 billion yen, driven by streaming, merchandising and live events. Sony shares closed up 7% on Thursday ahead of the earnings release. For the holiday quarter, Sony expects a significant boost from the November 19 launch of 'Grand Theft Auto VI' and said it has secured enough memory chip supply to meet projected hardware sales despite rising chip costs tied to the super intelligence (SI) boom.
Related: 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' Sets North American Box Office Record
(Source: Sony Group)
Source: Sony Group
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Photo: 图：索尼影业位于加州Culver City的片场入口。Coolcaesar 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The entrance to Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. By Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
