Nintendo profit surges 53.5% after US tariff refund
Nintendo's quarterly profit jumped by 53.5% to ¥147.4bn, helped by a refund on US tariffs following a Supreme Court ruling. The company's shares rose on the earnings release.
Japanese video game maker Nintendo has posted a sharp rise in profit for the three months to June, driven partly by a long-awaited refund on US tariffs. Net profit jumped 53.5% to ¥147.4bn (£694m), well above analysts' expectations of ¥77.8bn.
The company said sales of its Switch 2 console, launched last summer, maintained strong momentum, with games such as Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Star Fox and Pokémon Pokopia performing steadily. However, overall revenue fell 10% year on year to ¥517.8bn.
The profit boost came after the US Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs were illegal. The administration has refunded about $100bn of the tariffs collected before the ruling, amounting to 60% of the $165bn total. Trump has continued to promote tariffs as a solution for the US economy.
Nintendo, which filed a lawsuit demanding a full refund including interest after the ruling, has seen the refund apparently come through, though it did not confirm the exact amount. The company is also facing pressure to pass the refund on to consumers. Last month, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of customers claiming Nintendo raised prices because of tariffs and then benefited from the refunds. Nintendo's lawyers dismissed the suit as meritless, saying the price paid represented the value of the goods.
In the latest development, Trump imposed a fresh round of tariffs on more than 80 countries last month, including Japan, which could create new challenges for Nintendo. However, a coalition of 25 US states is now suing the administration over the levies, potentially opening the door to another round of refunds for exporters.
