‘Mamma mia!’: Trump tariffs refund ignites 53% profit spike at Nintendo
Quarterly profit jump fuelled largely by unknown US refund amount as Japanese video game giant records overall sales drop Nintendo has reported a jump in profits, as the Japanese game maker’s earnings were buoyed up by a long-awaited refund on Donald Trump’s tariffs. The company said profits surged 53.5% to ¥147.4bn (£694m) over the three months to June, substantially beating expert forecasts for…
Nintendo's profits have experienced a significant surge of 53.5%, reaching ¥147.4bn (£694m) for the quarter ending June, exceeding analysts' expectations of ¥77.8bn. The company attributes this remarkable growth to a substantial refund received from the United States on Donald Trump's tariffs, which were deemed illegal by the Supreme Court in February.
Despite this boost, Nintendo's overall sales for the period fell by 10% to ¥517.8bn, compared to the same time last year. The company's Switch 2 console sales, introduced the previous summer, continued to perform well, along with popular titles like Yoshi and Mysterious Book, Star Fox, and Pokémon Pokopia. However, these sales gains did not offset the decline in revenue.
Nintendo's shares rose 2.87% following the earnings announcement. The Tokyo-listed firm has filed a lawsuit against the White House seeking a full refund covering the expenses incurred due to the tariffs, along with interest. While a full refund has not been confirmed, Nintendo maintains that it is not obliged to pass on these savings to its consumers.
Recently, the company faced a class-action lawsuit alleging price hikes due to tariffs, which were later negated by the refunds. Trump has announced further tariff hikes on over 80 nations, including Japan, potentially complicating matters for companies like Nintendo. Simultaneously, a group of 25 US states are challenging the tariffs in court, which may lead to additional refunds for affected exporters.
Written by urgent.news from The Guardian's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
