Bloomberg reports that Sony stock jumped by almost 10% after the Japanese Nikkei newspaper reported that the company may consider splitting off the Sony Entertainment division at an upcoming board meeting. Last week, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb called for Sony to split off its entertainment division from the rest of the company. The entertainment division is one of the divisions that has been outperforming other areas of the company, with Loeb suggesting that profits could be maximized further if it were to continue as a separate entity.
The news was initially received by Western media as being related to the conclusion of Microsoft’s press conference in which the Xbox One was announced, which roughly coincided with the report by Nikkei being published.
News surrounding Sony has been dominated by in the last week by Loeb’s call to split off the entertainment business, and has found traction with other Sony investors. Kazuo Hirai, the CEO and President of Sony, initially stated that the company had no intention of splitting off businesses, but the report by Nikkei suggests that this option may now be back on the table.