Nintendo shares drop 5% after conservative Switch forecasts
But platform holder's share price has still risen 29% since the start of the year
Shareholders seem disappointed in Nintendo's latest financial results as the company's share price took a hit the next day.
Reuters reports shares fell by as much as 5% in early trading at Tokyo, with analysts attributing this to the company's less ambitious sales projections for Switch.
Nintendo expects to shift 18 million units of the console in the next financial year, reaching a total global install base of 53 million units.
This would only be a 1.05 million increase on the 16.95 million sold in the previous fiscal year. Sales were below Nintendo's original expectations of 20 million units, and still just shy of its revised forecast of 17 million.
Nintneod also only forecast for a 5.4% rise in Switch software sales, with a full-year target of 125 million units.
Analysts told Reuters they believe this to be too conservative, given that the 2019 line-up for Switch includes the next generation of Pokémon titles, new instalments in the Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing and Luigi's Mansion series, plus a remake of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
There are also rumours of updated Switch hardware models, expected to be released as early as this summer, which should boost sales significantly.
Ace Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda said: "Whether it would reach its targets became a big theme last year, so Nintendo has released figures it can be confident of hitting."
The company also urged caution about investor excitement around its move into China -- something our own Rob Fahey agrees with.
Reuters reports Nintendo's share price has risen by 29% overall since the start of 2019, with the most recent boost following news that Tencent will be selling the Switch into China.