Benzinga | Nov 5, 2020 05:06AM EST

Nintendo Expects To Sell 26% More Switch Consoles In 2021 Over Previous Estimate

Creator of Super Mario franchise Nintendo Co Ltd (OTC: NTDOY) hiked the forecast for Switch handheld consoles in its earnings report. It expects to sell 24 million Switch handheld consoles for the year ending March 2021, 26% higher than the previously projected 19 million units.

What Happened: The Kyoto-headquartered gaming company tripled its semi-annual operating profit to approximately $2.8 billion (JPY 291.4 billion), compared to $900.1 million (JPY 94 billion) in the year-ago period.

During the six months ended Sep. 30, "Paper Mario: The Origami King" game for the Switch sold 2.82 million units, while "Super Mario 3D All-Stars" sold 5.21 million units.

Total sales stood at approximately $7.38 billion (JPY 769.5 billion), 77.5% of which came from overseas sales. Digital sales revenue rose by 139.4% year-over-year to $1.64 billion (JPY 171.5 billion).

Why It Matters: Nintendo has been hesitant to hike forecasts even though Switch has enjoyed robust sales. According to Reuters, the company said that a boost from stay-at-home consumers due to the pandemic might be transitory.

Sony Corporation's (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox Series X go on sale on Nov. 10 and Nov. 12, respectively, according to the Financial Times.

Sony intends to sell 100 million units of PS5, while Microsoft is more focused on the number of players and the time they spend gaming.

Price Action: Nintendo ADR shares on OTC closed 2.23% lower to $68.48 on Wednesday.