Sony shares rise 6 percent

2006 was a tumultuous year for Sony. Delays hit its US and Japanese launch dates for the PlayStation 3, and there are still a couple of months before it hits Europe, with no specific date yet disclosed. On top of that, a series of thefts and violent incidents marred the US PS3 launch, and the company has been taken to task by mainstream media outlets like Time and The New York Times.

In spite of that, the company is off to a good start financially in 2007. Sony shares closed today at 5,550 yen (approx $46), a 6.5 percent jump, which was the company's single largest gain in more than a year. Leading investment bank Goldman Sachs added the company's stocks to its "buy" list, and Tokyo-based analyst Yuji Fujimori raised the 12-month share-price estimate to 6,200 yen ($52) from 5,150 yen ($43), reports Bloomberg.

However, gaming wasn't the primary reason for the Goldman Sachs upgrade. The bank increased its rating on the stock from "neutral" to "buy" on the basis of the electronic giant's TV sales over the holiday period, and its cheap valuation.

The company recently announced that it had met its goal of delivering 1 million PS3 units to the US last year, after supply-constrained launches of only 400,000 units in the US and 100,000 in Japan.