Sony's stock has now been downgraded to bb-minus status by rating company Fitch. This is the first group to brand Sony's shares "junk."
Just to clarify, the junk label is not an officially defined term, but normally refers to anything of BB status or below with a high risk of default and very little chance of any short or medium term gains. This goes hand-in-hand with Sony's recent woes, which has been hitting the corporation hard over the past two years. Based on the company's downward spiral when it comes to their stocks, this prompted the promotion of Kaz Hirai to CEO and president of Sony and replacing Sir Howard Stringer.
This labeling of Sony's stock as junk, is according to the ratings board as, "reflects Fitch's belief that meaningful recovery will be slow, given the company's loss of technology leadership in key products, high competition, weak economic conditions in developed markets and the strong yen."
Hirai, hopes to consolidate Sony as a whole, with profitable areas of the business and building strategies for struggling branches such as their TV, digital camera and other divisions. Ironically enough, the company's PlayStation portfolio is one of the few branches which is faring better — although their most recent quarterly financials still show that Sony is stll struggling to recuperate.
Source: GamesIndustry
