By Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO (Reuters) - SONY (JP6758.TK)Corp's <6758.T> shares tumbled 13 percent to a 13-year low on Friday after the electronics maker halved its profit forecast, as the credit crisis hurts demand for its cameras and flat TVs and drives up the yen.
The downward revision stirred worries over the earnings performance of other Japanese high-tech exporters, and some investors say the maker of Bravia LCD TVs may have to cut its outlook again as its assumptions for the euro/yen look optimistic compared with current levels.
"We see risk of further shortfalls and think the negative news is not exhausted," Goldman Sachs analyst Yuji Fujimori said in a note to clients, adding that he was slashing his target price on the company by 1,000 yen to 1,900 yen.
The Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate slashed its operating profit by 57 percent to 200 billion yen ($2 billion) on slowing demand for its TVs and Cyber-shot digital cameras, adding that the recent surge in the yen against the euro and the dollar has sliced into its profits.
It may also close some plants, reduce capital spending and cut jobs to cope with a business environment it warned could remain weak through most of next year.
Sony shares ended the morning down 12.2 percent at 2,015 yen, after falling as low as 1,983 yen.
Canon Inc <7751.T> and Panasonic Corp <6752.T>, which report quarterly results on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, were also hit.
Canon, the world's largest digital camera maker, fell 6.4 percent to 2,855 yen, while Panasonic, the No.1 plasma TV maker, lost 7.8 percent to 1,411 yen. The Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index <.IELEC.T> lost 7.4 percent.
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
