Nintendo Cuts Annual Profit Forecast 10% as Switch Sales Slow

A staff member sorts products at the Nintendo store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A staff member sorts products at the Nintendo store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Nintendo Cuts Annual Profit Forecast 10% as Switch Sales Slow

A staff member sorts products at the Nintendo store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A staff member sorts products at the Nintendo store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Nintendo cut on Tuesday its operating profit forecast for the year to March 2025 by 10% to 360 billion yen ($2.36 billion), as its ageing Switch console loses steam.

The latest forecast is below analyst estimates of a 391.4 billion yen profit.

The Kyoto-based gaming company sold 4.7 million Switch consoles in the first half of the financial year. That compares with 6.8 million units sold in the same period a year earlier.

Nintendo lowered its full-year sales forecast for the console, which is in its eighth year on the market, by 7% to 12.5 million units. That would be down 20% from actual Switch sales of 15.7 million units a year earlier.

It also revised down its annual software sales forecast by 3% to 160 million units.

"For a platform that is in its 8th year in the market, both hardware and software enjoy stable demand and brisk sales," Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told an online press conference.

"But sales so far fell short of our original projections. Taking into consideration their sales in the first half, we revised our forecasts for both hardware and software, and that led to the earnings revision."

Furukawa said there was no change to Nintendo's plan to announce a successor to its long-lasting Switch console in the current financial year, but did not go into specifics.

Shares in Nintendo closed down 3.9% ahead of the earnings announcements, underperforming the Nikkei average's 1.1% gain.



Dell Forecasts Downbeat Fourth-Quarter Revenue on PC Weakness

The logo of Dell Technologies at the Milipol Paris, the worldwide exhibition dedicated to homeland security and safety, in Villepinte near Paris, France, November 15, 2023. (Reuters)
The logo of Dell Technologies at the Milipol Paris, the worldwide exhibition dedicated to homeland security and safety, in Villepinte near Paris, France, November 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Dell Forecasts Downbeat Fourth-Quarter Revenue on PC Weakness

The logo of Dell Technologies at the Milipol Paris, the worldwide exhibition dedicated to homeland security and safety, in Villepinte near Paris, France, November 15, 2023. (Reuters)
The logo of Dell Technologies at the Milipol Paris, the worldwide exhibition dedicated to homeland security and safety, in Villepinte near Paris, France, November 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Dell forecast fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, weighed down by weaker demand for its traditional PCs and competition from rival server makers, sending its shares down more than 10% in extended trading.

Despite booming demand for the company's AI-optimized servers used to handle large artificial intelligence workloads, Dell's PC segment has been grappling with stiff competition from rivals and weak consumer spending amid an uncertain economy.

Enterprise customers are being mindful of their PC and IT spending in the short term, Dell executives said on a post-earnings conference call, adding that the company's consumer business was weaker than expected.

Dell forecast fourth-quarter revenue between $24 billion and $25 billion. The average analyst estimate is $25.57 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

"The entire PC market is in a transition period and moving towards on-device AI functionality which still isn't that defined and is expected to solidify in 2025," Gadjo Sevilla, senior analyst for AI and Tech at Emarketer, said.

Revenue from Dell's client solutions group, which houses its PC business, came in at $12.13 billion, below expectations of $12.43 billion.

Rival PC maker HP also provided a weak first-quarter profit forecast, while electronics retailer Best Buy trimmed its annual forecasts against the backdrop of weak consumer electronics demand.

Investors are also keenly eyeing Dell's costs after the company flagged in May that higher expenses to build AI-heavy servers and competitive pricing would hurt its margins.

"Interest in our portfolio is at an all-time high, driving record AI server orders demand of $3.6 billion in Q3 and a pipeline that grew more than 50%," Dell's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said on Tuesday.

Revenue from the company's infrastructure solutions group unit, which houses its AI servers business, rose 34% to $11.37 billion and beat estimates.

Dell reported revenue of $24.37 billion in the third quarter, missing estimates of $24.67 billion.