Nintendo Co. shares gained the most in over seven months after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it expects the upcoming release of its Switch 2 console to drive active users to new highs.
The U.S. bank reinstated coverage of the Japanese games maker with a buy rating and a 12-month price target of ¥13,600, representing a 26 per cent upside from Tuesday’s close. Nintendo jumped as much as 6.4 per cent Wednesday morning in Tokyo.
The Switch 2, scheduled to be unveiled on April 2, should help Nintendo “unlock dormant hardware and dormant users,” pushing active consoles to new highs, analysts Minami Munakata and Haruki Kubota wrote in a report.
Nintendo’s long-awaited Switch 2 will come more than seven years after its original Switch console went on sale, and the firm’s stock has risen to all-time highs on anticipation for its release.
The new console will likely feature similar gameplay to its predecessor, allowing family and friends to play together, Munakata and Kubota wrote. They also expect “numerous new software titles” to accompany the Switch 2’s release, helping drive sales and leading to a “renewed growth phase” for Nintendo’s earnings from next fiscal year. A slowdown in Switch sales has been pressuring revenue in recent quarters.
An Insider Gaming report that Nintendo may release new software for the Switch 2 in three phases is also likely boosting its shares Wednesday, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Nathan Naidu.
A phased game roll-out “could help ‘stretch out’ orders for the gadget and avoid issues with scalpers that the Switch had,” Naidu wrote in a note.
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