There's a saying, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you," and it's worth reminding the bosses of big companies, especially if their shares are publicly traded.
This means that, in addition to the agenda and wishes of investors, it is crucial to listen to the opinions of the company's direct customers, even without doing exactly what they want.
Big players such as Bud Light, its parent company Anheuser-Busch, and The Walt Disney Company have already learned the importance of these seemingly apparent lessons.
Interestingly, the latter does not seem to have thoroughly learned the lesson and continues to stick to its guns, resulting in poorer box office results and, consequently, lower profits.
Could Sony end up being yet another victim of ignoring its users?
Earlier this month, the company faced a storm of criticism from netizens for its controversial Helldivers 2 update linking PlayStation Network and Steam accounts.
Although Sony backtracked on the PSN decision due to gamers' criticism, it has quietly maintained that it will not sell the game in those 177 regions.
Some WallStreetBets users thought it might be the right time to open short positions, and if they did so before 7 May, they were right, albeit for different reasons.
It was not user outrage but Sony Group Corp.'s $26 billion takeover bid for Paramount Global that triggered the stock's fall, raising questions about its financing.
However, Sony's stock has rallied following its quarterly report.
The reason is that higher profits from its gaming and movie divisions boosted its net profit by 34% from a year earlier to 189.005 billion yen ($1.21 billion) in the three months that ended in March.
This beat the ¥149.71 billion estimate of ¥149.71 billion made by a FactSet poll of analysts. Looking ahead, the conglomerate forecasts a net profit of 925 billion yen for the current fiscal year.
How will the recent controversy affect Sony?
Sony, in general, will probably not be impacted much, as the affected users are not usually Sony's regular customers. Otherwise, such a decision would not have been taken.
In the long run, however, it could pose challenges for expanding the company's video game sector into new markets. But it doesn't seem to worry investors too much.
As for Sony's prospects, JP Morgan analysts expect the company to expand its gaming and animation platforms and create synergies with entertainment IPs.
However, the final decision on whether to include Sony's shares in the portfolio should depend on investors' own research. Most investors find stocks for their portfolio with a stock screener, scanning prices, market cap, and volume and applying many more filters to spot promising shares.