Microsoft & Nintendo's stocks could be worth 1c, but if they keep making multibillion dollar profits as they are still doing along with their respective cash surplusses sitting in the bank then they are going to remain in business for the foreseeable future.

Sony on the other hand have a stock price that's dropped over 50% and have a large cash debt. With reduced market cap they will have more trouble refinancing this debt, especially when the debt is growing substatially due to multi-billion dollar operating losses.

Looking at only the balance sheet may simplistic and not tell the whole story, but it tells a hell of a lot more than just looking at the stock value.

Sony as a whole is bleeding tons of raw cash every single day of every hour. They are drowning and their seems to be no end in sight especially with this horrible economy. Sales will not get better but worse. Even Microsoft is planning to lay off a ton of people, but they are still profiting at least. Its Msn that's killing killing them the most.

Wow, that's very interesting Akuma. I thought this was completely different. (But as Louie mentioned, it doesn't mean as much as one (or at least I) might think at first. 

One thing though - the graphs are a tiny bit misleading, as they don't show the same top and bottom (relative to each other), but all stock graphs are like that I think.

So for the 12 months ending January, it's something ala.

Sony: 50 > 25 = halved

Microsoft: 32 > 20 = minus 3/8 (37.5%)

Nintendo: 62 > 45 = minus 27%

So they did have the biggest drop of the big 3 (but not by as much as I originally though).

Actually, your point is just wrong.

The balance sheet is more important then stock price.

Reason being... your balance sheet is what keeps your company alive.

You can have the highest stockprice in the world but if you don't have the money to run your company... you end up like Bear Sterns.

Individual share price is meaningless.... you don't seem to have a solid grasp on the situation.

I'll reply with the same thing I said in the other thread:

I mean, when a thread about financial stuff starts with "every company is currently losing a lot of money"... And then you call others brain damaged and ignorant in the first few posts you wrote in the thread...

This is Crazzyman level cherry picking of facts.

Just one correction: The $1.1-$2.2 billion dollar expected loss is not for the holiday quarter, it's for the whole fiscal year. This means a $2-$3 billion dollar loss in the holiday quarter and the ongoing quarter combined (they made around $1 billion in the first half of the fiscal year).

No, it is uniformly recognized as a CHART. Guess what? Charts can be used in many great and exciting ways, besides displaying stock! If you were reporting revenue or profit, it can be on a chart just like that! You following? Good. Now, most charts are labeled so as to describe what information is being conveyed. Still with me? Excellent! Here's a cookie!

Now, were you to use a chart that more accurately showed Sony's situation relative to Microsoft and Nintendo (and it would look a lot like those you posted) you would see something like profit by quarter. And where Microsoft and Nintento's line would be way up into the billions, Sony's line would be falling down below zero.

If you are going to use stock chart to prove your point at least use half decent one.

Here:

Sony

Nintendo

Microsoft

Much more info.