Previously, the company expected an operating revenue of 7.3 trillion yen ($78.3 billion) and an overall net loss of some 70 billion yen ($750.8 million) for the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2010. However, Sony now believes it will post an operating revenue of 7.2 trillion yen ($77.3 billion) and only lose 41 billion yen ($439 million) overall.

Both the previous and most recent estimate mark an improvement over Sony's previous fiscal year, which saw the company lose 98.9 billion yen ($1.06 billion) and implement some cost-cutting initiatives between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009.

Explaining the shift in its outlook, Sony cited "improved performance within the game business and VAIO PCs as a result of better than anticipated reductions in both operating expenses and manufacturing" as well as "less severe than anticipated price declines [within the Consumer Products & Devices segment, which includes LCD televisions], and reductions in both manufacturing cost and operating," better than expected performance by Sony Ericcson and "an improvement in the Japanese stock market."