Japanese electronics giant Sharp on Thursday announced a bigger-than-expected $1.86 billion fiscal year loss, and thousands of job cuts, as it fights to stay afloat.

The Osaka-based company's 222 billion yen net loss -- much bigger than an earlier forecast of a 30 billion yen shortfall -- came as it said it is planning to cut 3,500 jobs in Japan, or about 15 percent of its domestic workforce.