27-10-2015 11:38
Nintendo will announce its earnings for┬áApril 2015 ÔÇô September 2015 this Wednesday and then on the Thursday they will hold their investors meeting. In preparation for the event The Wall Street Journal has gathered some industry analysts to debate what will be announced and what wonÔÇÖt be announced.
- EARNINGS FORECAST: According to a poll of five analysts by financial data provider Nikkei Quick, Nintendo is expected to post a net profit of 16.1 billion yen ($133 million) for the half-year period, up from a 14.3 billion yen profit in the year-earlier period. For the July-September quarter, the analysts expect a 6.9 billion yen net profit, down from 24.2 billion yen.
- REVENUE FORECAST: The Kyoto-based videogame powerhouse is expected to post revenue of 197.9 billion yen for the six-month period and 113.1 billion yen for the quarter. A year ago, Nintendo posted revenue of 171.4 billion yen and 96.7 billion yen, respectively.
- SMARTPHONE GAME: Nintendo plans to release its first smartphone game by the end of this year, and analysts expect the company to officially announce details of the software, including what Nintendo game characters will be used and when the game will be ready to download.
- NX: Some analysts hope Nintendo may shed more light on NX, its next-generation game-console system, when the company executives meet investors on Thursday. But itÔÇÖs likely that Nintendo wonÔÇÖt talk about the topic because it has been saying the next announcement will be made next year.
- MORE TIE-UP DEALS: Nintendo is opening up, striking many surprising partnership deals recently, including with smartphone game provider DeNA Co.2432.TO +0.87%, Comcast Corp.CMCSA +0.23% theme-park subsidiary Universal Parks & Resorts as well as Google-spinout Niantic Inc. Former Nintendo Chief Executive Satoru Iwata, who died of cancer in July, had said the firm aimed to expand the use of Nintendo characters to help popularize Nintendo games.
- NINTENDO DIRECT: Nintendo hasnÔÇÖt recently updated Nintendo Direct, its website for delivering game-related news to customers. The site was launched under Mr. IwataÔÇÖs guidance, so its future is unclear.
- SLEEP MONITOR: Nintendo last year said it planned to introduce a bedside sensor that would monitor a userÔÇÖs body conditions and improve quality of sleep ÔÇô part of the companyÔÇÖs Quality-of-Life initiative. Nintendo hasnÔÇÖt given any updates on the project since then, and analysts say there could be news on its progress.
- CEO TATSUMI KIMISHIMA: This will be the first earnings report issued by Nintendo under the leadership of new CEO Tatsumi Kimishima. He has attended these briefings as Mr. IwataÔÇÖs lieutenant, but was mostly silent. Analysts will look for him to explain his views on key strategies and will likely compare his performance to that of his predecessor.