Nintendo becomes fifth-largest company in Japan
Passing Sony? That’s already in the history books.
On Thursday, Nintendo’s stock closed at a record ¥618,000, up 8.8% from Wednesday. Nintendo’s overall market value now stands at ¥8.76 trillion (US$72.7 billion), propelling the company past Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, and Honda Motor Co. in a single day and into the slot for the fifth-largest company in the nation.
The fuel behind the jump is not surprisingly the astronomical sales of the Nintendo DS and DS Lite handhelds as well as those of the newly released Wii platform. Nintendo has also recently adjusted its projections for the fiscal year, with operating profits expected to be around ¥370 billion, up 37% from the previous projection. In addition, Nintendo is now expecting to sell 16.5 million Wii consoles and 26 million DS Lite handhelds by the end of March 2008.
