Nintendo posts quarterly profit rise, sees no major hit from chip price spike

By Sam Nussey

TOKYO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Japan's Nintendo connected Tuesday posted an 23% leap successful quarterly nett connected robust income of its Switch 2 console and said a ​surge successful representation spot prices is not having a large interaction connected net successful ‌the existent fiscal year.

The "Super Mario" shaper besides maintained its yearly net and hardware forecasts, including a prediction that income of ‌its Switch 2 volition deed 19 cardinal units.

It sold 17.4 cardinal units of the hybrid home-portable gaming instrumentality successful the 9 months to end-December, which includes the cardinal year-end buying season.

"Despite a deficiency of exclusive blockbusters, Switch 2 sold similar hotcakes implicit the holidays," said Serkan Toto, laminitis of the Kantan Games ⁠consultancy.

The Kyoto-based gaming institution launched the ‌Switch 2, the successor to the wildly fashionable Switch, successful mid-2025 and investors person been debating whether beardown aboriginal income would clasp up.

MEMORY CHIP PRICES ‍SOAR

Manufacturers of physics hardware are present grappling with sharply rising prices for representation chips amid booming concern successful artificial intelligence.

The terms surge is not importantly impacting Nintendo's results this fiscal year, but if the spike continues beyond ​expectations and persists implicit the agelong word it could unit profitability, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told ‌an net briefing.

Nintendo is amended placed than competitors to header and its "sizable inventories and semipermanent contracts volition shield it" for respective quarters, Jefferies expert Atul Goyal wrote successful a lawsuit enactment up of earnings.

The institution booked operating nett of 155 cardinal yen ($995 million) successful the latest quarter, and forecast the yearly fig to travel successful astatine 370 cardinal yen, an summation of astir a 3rd implicit the ⁠previous fiscal year.

The Switch 2 is priced astatine $449.99 successful ​the United States, acold much than the Japanese connection strategy ​sold successful Japan for 49,980 yen ($320). The higher U.S. terms is seen arsenic taking into relationship the existent inflationary environment.

Nintendo's shares person fallen astir a 3rd since ‍a caller precocious successful ⁠November.

Goldman Sachs expert Minami Munakata noted that Nintendo has a argumentation of not selling hardware astatine a nonaccomplishment and said "concerns astir the Nintendo Switch 2 becoming unprofitable are overdone."

Investors person ⁠also been fretting astir a deficiency of high-profile titles, specified arsenic games from "The Legend of Zelda" bid that helped thrust ‌Switch sales.

Upcoming titles see "Mario Tennis Fever", which is owed for merchandise adjacent week.