Sony Pictures Entertainment announced earnings for its fiscal third quarter, which were among the best results for the period for all the major studios.
Sony’s revenues from October to December came in at $2.47 billion, a 5% increase from the same period last year. Profits from that revenue were $281 million, a 57% increase from last year. Sony got a big boost from the success of SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, the studio’s biggest theatrical hit of the year. After its record-setting theatrical run last summer, SPIDEY continued to generate income throughout the rest of the year through strong PVOD sales and licensing deals with various SVOD platforms.
Sony’s success came in the face of Hollywood’s labor strikes, due to a relative lack of exposure to production delays. Sony is the only major studio that does not operate its streaming platform, instead licensing its films and other content to the streamers.
This was a somewhat controversial decision back in 2020 and 2021 when other studios decided to invest in their own branded streaming services. In hindsight, it now seems clear that Sony was extremely prudent, avoiding the pitfalls of escalating costs and brutal competition in streaming.
Sony’s Crunchyroll division operates a special-interest streaming service for anime content with a base of 13 million subscribers. The service was already profitable when Sony acquired Crunchyroll in 2021, a point that was emphasized in the company’s earnings call with investors.
Looking ahead, Sony seems poised to do well in 2024 with major film releases in the pipeline, including GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE, VENOM 3, and the next BAD BOYS franchise sequel. They also struck gold with the rom-com ANYONE BUT YOU, which has earned more than $170 million in the global box office after costing a mere $25 million to produce. Since only $31 million of that box office came in during December, most of this profit will go on the books for the current fiscal quarter.