Sony sells Sony Pictures
Early Monday morning, Sony got off to an inauspicious start to its earnings week by eliminating the $962 million in goodwill it had on its balance sheet tied to Sony Pictures’ production and distribution unit. That sent the company’s stock down nearly 4 percent through midday trading and raised speculation about a possible sale of the studio.
Despite the eye-popping number, the goodwill impairment is a non-cash charge that doesn’t affect the company’s ongoing operations. It has, however, taken a bite out of the Japanese conglomerate’s stock price and could certainly reduce the valuation in an eventual full or partial sale of the studio. Goodwill is an asset, and reducing the value of the asset on a company’s books makes it worth less.
After some losses like Ghostbusters, and with only really one known profitable IP i,e Spiderman- do you think Paramount and other companies will file suit and drop their motion picture divisions altogether? What companies do you think will be producing films in an industry where only IPS/big budgets are the norm?