After this past week’s stellar earnings from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), many Japanese companies are set to announce earnings this week. Headlining this weeks earnings are Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE). Sony’s earnings look like bad news for shareholders as the company has warned of a $1.2 billion net loss for the fiscal year ending in March.
Sony’s full year fiscal forecast came before Sony’s announcement earlier this month that it would take a 33 billion yen one time charge for the quarter after Sony Ericsson posted an unexpected loss for the quarter. One reason for Sony’s recent woes is currency exchange rates. The U.S. dollar remained below 80 yen for the quarter causing a rise in prices of the company’s exports compared to competitors in other countries. The massive flooding in Thailand last year also affected their results.
Other Japanese companies will also be affected by the same problems plauging Sony. Panasonic Corp. (NYSE:PC) will announce their earnings on Friday and is also expecting a fiscal year net loss. Panasonic is being weighed down by their television unit and costs from its subsidiary, Sanyo.
Other companies to watch this week for earnings include Toshiba Corp. (TYO:6502), Honda Motor Co. (NYSE:HMC), Sharp Corp. (TYO:6753) and Hitachi Ltd. (NYSE:HIT).
Global markets will be watching manufacturing data coming out of China closely this week. Many analysts are expecting the PMI’s to disappoint pointing to a reading of 48.8. A reading of 50 is the difference between contraction and expansion.
