Sharp climbs the most in two weeks after narrowing loss outlook

Sharp Corp. rose the most in two weeks after the company narrowed its full-year loss outlook and posted its first quarterly profit in more than two years.

The shares climbed as much as 4.5 percent to 327 yen in Tokyo on Monday, the biggest intraday jump since Jan. 23. The net loss will reach 37.2 billion yen ($330 million) in the year ending March 31, the Osaka-based company reported on Friday, citing cost reductions. That’s narrower than the 53 billion yen average projection of analysts before the new forecast and the company’s previous prediction for a 41.8 billion yen shortfall.

Sharp’s shares have more than tripled in value since August, when Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group bought control of the struggling Japanese electronics maker. Tai Jeng Wu, who took over as Sharp’s president in August, is making headway in overhauling the liquid-crystal display business, which reported an 11 billion yen profit in the latest quarter. He will next need to address losses in Sharp’s solar-panel operations and reverse a decline in consumer electronics sales.

“The company has been making steady progress on restructuring following” the Foxconn injection, Mika Nishimura, a Tokyo-based analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG wrote in a report. “Going forward we expect share price formation to be driven mainly by investor expectations for ongoing improvements.”

Sharp raised its full year revenue outlook 2.5 percent to 2.05 trillion yen and increased the operating income forecast 45 percent to 37.3 billion yen. The company cited restructuring efforts for the revised outlook, saying cost reductions added 62.2 billion yen to the bottom line in third quarter