While most of us are wondering about the PlayStation 6—especially now that the PlayStation 5 has been out for around four years—and what it will have to offer, there are some analysts who are already looking to the PlayStation 7. And it will likely look quite a bit different from the PlayStations of the past. Sony (NYSE:SONY), as a result, saw shares gain just over 1.5% in the closing minutes of Thursday’s trading as a result.
The word from analyst Mat Piscatella with Circana suggests that physical copies of PlayStation games may well go the way of the dodo in just two generations. While the PlayStation 6 will likely still involve discs, the PlayStation 7 may ultimately phase them out and go completely digital like Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox Series S.
Piscatella also believes that Microsoft’s abandonment of disc-based gaming will likely be permanent, suggesting users “get used” to it. Given that Piscatella serves as executive director of the NPD Group, which tracks the sales of games and consoles alike, it’s a safe bet that he knows from where he speaks.
Improved Emulation
Backward compatibility has long been a problem for console games; after all, just because a new system comes out, that doesn’t mean gamers want to stop playing their old favorites. They also don’t particularly want to keep old systems around, at least not in every case. Thus, making old games work on new hardware is a good way to keep gamers interested and give them a reason to buy new consoles. That’s a point Sony is working on as well, and PlayStation 5 systems should soon have improved emulation capacity for PlayStation 3 games, opening up a substantial library of retro titles.
Is Sony a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on SONY stock based on three Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 7.74% loss in its share price over the past year, the average SONY price target of $112.93 per share implies 33.93% upside potential.
