Market Currents

• Wednesday, December 2, 2009

• 11:07 AM GameStop (GME) -8.5% after Wal-Mart (WMT) rolls out discounts on top video games. "Many of the GameStop stores overlap in close proximity to a Wal-Mart store, as GameStop has historically sought to benefit from Wal-Mart's foot traffic," analyst Tony Wible notes. Gaming stocks are also under pressure: NTDOY.PK -3.7%. ATVI -2.3%. SNE -2%. Comment!

• Thursday, October 29, 2009

• 05:38 AM Nintendo (NTDOY.PK): H1 net profit of ¥69.5B ($768M, -52%). Sales of ¥548B (-34.5%). Cuts H1 dividend by 37% to ¥270. Sold 5.75M Wii consoles (-43%) and 11.7M DS hand-held player sales (vs. 13.7M last year). Sees full-year net income of ¥230B vs. ¥270B consensus, full operating profit of ¥370B (-33%), sales of ¥1.5T (-18%), and Wii sales of 20M (vs. previous 26M). (PR I, II, III, Bloomberg) Comment!

• Thursday, September 24, 2009

• 09:07 AM Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) is cutting the price of its popular Wii game console by 20%, a response to similar cuts by rivals Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT). In the U.S., a Wii will now set you back $199.99, $50 less than before. PS3 and Xbox each cost about $300. Nintendo has so far outsold its rivals in this generation of consoles, but sales have tailed off in recent months. 1 Comment

• Thursday, August 27, 2009

• 08:00 AM Microsoft (MSFT) cuts the price of its high-end Xbox 360 by $100, following a similar move by Sony (SNE). Nintendo's (NTDOY.PK) Wii is now the only console that hasn't yet had a price cut ahead of the holiday shopping season. Comment!

• Monday, August 24, 2009

• 12:57 PM Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) resolves a trade fight that could have become a Wii problem: a U.S. import ban on the console. The patent-infringement settlement removes a threat that could have affected the company's top sales position over the Xbox 360 (MSFT) and PlayStation 3 (SNE). Comment!

• Wednesday, August 19, 2009

• 07:54 AM Bowing to the demands of game publishers and putting pressure on rival Nintendo (NTDOY.PK), Sony (SNE) cuts the price of its PlayStation 3 by 25% to $299. As recently as last month, Sony said it had no plans to lower its prices. Comment!

• Thursday, July 30, 2009

• 08:14 AM Nintendo (NTDOY.PK): FQ1 net profit fell 60% to ¥42.3B vs. consensus of ¥49.8B. Still sees full-year net profit of ¥300B, up 7.5%. Wii sales of 2.23M were 57% lower than the 5.17M it sold last year. Revenue fell 40% to ¥253B ($2.7B). (DJ) Comment!

• Monday, June 1, 2009

• 11:46 AM Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT) will launch new video game products this week to challenge Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) as its Wii sales slacken. Comment!

• Wednesday, May 27, 2009

• 12:15 PM To keep up Wii momentum, Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) wants to increase the number of Wii videogames made by outside publishers to 70% from 55%, and to include combat and sports titles targeting serious players. Comment!

• Wednesday, May 13, 2009

• 08:57 AM Taking aim at the Wii: Sources say Microsoft (MSFT) is developing a 3D video camera for the Xbox 360 that will allow players to control games with body movement - a twist on Wii's (NTDOY.PK) use of electronic gadgets to control on-screen action. Comment!

• Thursday, May 7, 2009

• 09:26 AM Nintendo (NTDOY.PK): Sees full-year operating profit of ¥490B ($5B), down 12%, vs. consensus of ¥537B. Sees Wii sales up 1% to 26M consoles, short of analyst projections. Sees full-year net income of ¥300B (+7.5%), vs. consensus of ¥340B. “We’re not optimistic” about the Wii’s overseas sales this year, President Satoru Iwata told reporters. (Bloomberg) Comment!

• Saturday, April 18, 2009

• 14:29 PM Nintendo's (NTDOY.PK) shares have taken a beating over the past year, but the drop seems overdone, writes Barron's Jay Palmer. The stock now looks like a bargain, especially considering profits could jump 40% this year. Comment!

• Thursday, April 16, 2009

• 19:20 PM U.S. video game sales fell for the first time since Sept. '08, sliding 17% in March vs. a year ago to $1.43B, NPD says in its monthly report. But analyst Anita Frazier says it may not yet be time to rain on video game's parade: last year's March included Easter. Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) again led console sales. 1 Comment

• Wednesday, March 18, 2009

• 10:29 AM Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) -5.5% after Deutsche Bank tags the stock with a Sell rating, saying profits will peak in early 2010, and fall thereafter. "Sales are brisk in Europe and the U.S., but we see a risk of an early fall if content remains unchanged," firm says. Comment!

• Monday, March 16, 2009

• 15:21 PM Sony (SNE) is under pressure to cut the price of its PlayStation 3 as it loses ground to Nintendo's (NTDOY.PK) Wii. Analysts say Sony could shave $50-100 off the PS3 price tag this month or next. Comment!

• Friday, February 13, 2009

• 08:51 AM U.S. video game sales post another solid month of growth, up 13% in January to $1.3B, NPD says. Wii (NTDOY.PK) topped the list with 679K consoles, followed by Xbox (MSFT) at 309K and PS3 (SNE) at just 203K. Comment!