Sony plans share buybacks

Article Excerpt

SONY CORP. ADRs $47 (New York symbol SNE; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.3 billion; Market cap: $61.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.sony.net) reported 10.0% lower sales for its fiscal 2019 third quarter, ended December 31, 2018, to $21.3 billion from $23.6 billion a year earlier. That’s mainly due to slowing sales of its PlayStation 4 video game console. Earnings jumped 44.3%, to $2.93 per ADR from $2.03. That was due to a gain on the acquisition of a 60% stake in music publisher EMI. The company now plans to buy back about $911 million worth, or 2.4%, of its outstanding shares. Sony is still a hold. hold…