The money printing continues for Japan's hottest company.
Nintendo's stock on the Osaka Securities Exchange shot up a staggering 7.8 percent today on the expectation that Nintendo could raise its profit forecasts Thursday. The continued global sales dominance of Wii and DS consoles is credited with pushing the stock to its current high of 68,800 yen (roughly $74.90). To put this in perspective, at the launch of the DS Lite in Japan just 20 months ago, Nintendo's stock was worth around $18 a share. Today's gain was the biggest single-day increase for the Kyoto-based company since July 26, 2007. As previously reported here on NWR, Nintendo is now the second most valuable company in Japan behind Toyota.
"An upward revision of full-year earnings targets is likely,'' suggests Hiroshi Kamide, analyst at KBC Securities Japan. "It's natural that expectations are high ahead of the year-end shopping season.'' Kamide gives the stock a "buy" rating.
According to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg, net income could exceed the company's current forecast by as much as 12 percent, with sales exceeding average estimates by 5.8 percent. We'll find out the exact numbers Thursday when Nintendo reports their year-to-date earnings.