If You Invested $1000 in Sony a Decade Ago, This is How Much It'd Be Worth Now
How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.
Another factor that can influence investors is FOMO, or the fear of missing out, especially with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Sony (SONY) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to SONY for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Sony's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Sony's main business drivers.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sony Group Corporation (erstwhile known as Sony Corporation till March 2021) designs, manufactures and sells several consumer and industrial electronic equipment. The company’s product roster comprises of audio and video equipment, televisions, displays, semiconductors, electronic components, gaming consoles, computers and computer peripherals and telecommunication equipment. Additionally, Sony is active in production, acquisition and distribution of motion pictures as well as television programming, along with the operation of television and digital networks. Further, the company has presence in the music and image-based software markets globally.
In addition, Sony operates several financial services businesses that include banking operations and life and non-life insurance operations, both of which are managed by its Japanese subsidiaries. Sony Financial Group mainly focuses on developing products and services that incorporate technology to respond effectively to social or environmental changes across all its businesses. Markedly, Sony Bank offers mortgage loans and foreign-currency deposits to consumers via online services. Also, the company has an advertising agency and a network services business in Japan.
In the first quarter of fiscal 2016, Sony realigned its business, which primarily involved repositioning of operations related to its All Other segment.
The company currently has six reportable segments – Game & Network Services (G&NS) (accounting for 27.6% of total operating revenues in fiscal 2021); Music (11.3%); Pictures (12.5%); Electronics Products & Solutions (EP&S) (23.6%); Imaging & Sensing Solutions (I&SS) (10.8%); and Financial Services (15.5%).
(Note: Zacks identifies fiscal years by the month in which the fiscal year ends, while SONY identifies its fiscal year by the calendar year in which it begins; so comparable figures for any given fiscal year, as published by SONY, will refer to this same fiscal year as being the year before the same year, as identified by Zacks)
Bottom Line
Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Sony a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.
According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in January 2013 would be worth $6,287.99, or a 528.80% gain, as of January 30, 2023. Investors should keep in mind that this return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.
The S&P 500 rose 170.84% and the price of gold increased 10.50% over the same time frame in comparison.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for SONY.
Sony’s performance is gaining from continued strength in Music and Pictures’ segments. The company remains focused on the premium segment of the branded products market to maximize growth. Improving sales at the company Games & Network (GN&S) segment is another tailwind. The company now expects to sell more than 18-million-unit sales for its PlayStation 5 in the current year. For fiscal 2022, the company now expects overall sales to improve 17% due to higher Music, Pictures and G&NS segment sales. Strategic acquisitions and joint ventures bode well. However, weak global macro-economic conditions, inflation, and increasing tension between United States and China remain major concerns. The company expects its operating income to decline 3.5% year over year, mainly due to a 35% decline in GN&S unit operating income.
Over the past four weeks, shares have rallied 18.79%, and there have been 1 higher earnings estimate revisions in the past two months for fiscal 2022 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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