Big Cuts at Sony, Shares Rise

Sony (NYSE:SNE) is cutting 4% of their workforce, in response, shares of SNE are up 4% today.  It only cost 8,000 jobs.

Since the start of the year Sony shares have tanked 61%. It was time for cuts.

Tokyo-based Sony, which is cutting 8,000 of its 185,000 jobs, said Tuesday it will shut five or six plants -- about 10 percent of its 57 factories. Sony also plans to reduce its electronics investments by about one-third by the end of March 2010, although it did not give specific numbers.

Sony recently slashed its full-year earnings projection, citing weaker consumer demand and a stronger yen. For the fiscal year through March 2009, it is expecting a 150 billion yen ($1.5 billion) profit, down 59 percent from the previous year.