Nintendo’s stock has surged to levels not recorded since the height of Wii mania.
Shares in the videogame maker climbed 2.7 per cent in Tokyo Thursday, lifting the stock past the 50,000 yen (Dh1,719/$468) barrier for the first time since September 2008. Shares have in recent days been driven by rising fears of a coronavirus second wave, and were boosted further by the announcement of new Pokemon games for both Switch and mobile.
The announcement of the Pokemon games by Nintendo and Pokemon Co., in which Nintendo owns a significant stake, was long overdue.
The Nintendo 64 game Pokemon Snap will be getting a sequel on Switch, while a paid expansion was announced for the Switch titles Pokemon Sword and Shield, which have sold more than 17 million copies. Pokemon developers also said they would share news on a further “big project” on June 24.
Nintendo’s Switch console-handheld hybrid was a hit product during global lockdowns, sold out in many regions and was buoyed by the surprising success of laid-back social simulator Animal Crossing: New Horizons. With cases reappearing in Beijing and increasing in the US, the prospect of more lockdowns has helped boost the shares out of its two-month plateau.
“The stock had been struggling the past two months with demand for stay-at-home stocks dropping as the economy re-opened and the state of emergency in Japan was lifted,” Katsuyuki Fujii, an analyst at Asunaro Investment, said on Thursday. “But as fears for the second wave of coronavirus grow, people are taking a second look at those stocks.”
Shares hit an all-time high of 73,200 yen in November 2007, when the Wii was the must-have hit product.
Investors and gamers alike have been wondering what the company has in store for the rest of the year, with Nintendo’s slate
looking remarkably bare. Beyond Pokemon, there are almost no titles in its hit franchises with set release windows – despite Sony and Microsoft both preparing to spend big as they roll out new generations of their PlayStation and Xbox consoles this holiday season.
“The shares have remained range-bound due to concerns over the lack of upcoming titles,” Daiwa Securities analyst Takao Suzuki wrote in a note dated June 9 in which he raised his price target to 55,000 yen. “We look for new title announcements and a surge in digital sales, other than those for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”
Sony announced more than 20 new titles when it showed off the PlayStation 5 for the first time last week, while Microsoft showcased more than a dozen Xbox Series X titles in May. At Nintendo’s most recent earnings in May it had no major titles listed for release in the rest of 2020.
All eyes will now be on the Kyoto gamemaker to say that it will hold one of its own “Nintendo Direct” online presentations, which has been the company’s favoured method of revealing titles in recent years. It has been almost a year since Nintendo held a major one of these announcements in which it unveiled key new titles, with the Mario Kart and Zelda franchises among those due to receive new entries.
Beyond this year’s slate, hopes are also high for the company in 2021. JPMorgan analyst Haruka Mori on June 10 raised her price target for Nintendo by 18 per cent to 52,000 yen, saying that the Covid-related demand growth didn’t look temporary. “We believe the Covid-19 pandemic has expanded earnings opportunities for the Nintendo Switch platform beyond one-off special demand,” Ms Mori wrote.
Despite a lack of short-term causes for the stock to move, Nintendo has multiple opportunities in the mid-term, Ms Mori said in a note, citing catalysts for 2021 that included a possible new Switch model, a price cut for existing models and advances for its team-up with Tencent in China.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16. first leg
Atletico Madrid v Juventus, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
Scoreline
Ireland 16 (Tries: Stockdale Cons: Sexton Pens: Sexton 3)
New Zealand 9 (Pens: Barrett 2 Drop Goal: Barrett)
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
McIlroy's recent struggles
Last six stroke-play events (First round score in brackets)
Arnold Palmer Invitational Tied for 4th (74)
The US Masters Tied for 7th (72)
The Players Championship Tied for 35th (73)
US Open Missed the cut (78)
Travellers Championship Tied for 17th (67)
Irish Open Missed the cut (72)
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
