Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Nintendo Stockowners Anxiously Await Announcement

In October of 2005, 2006, and 2007 Nintendo announced upward revisions of their forecasted respective fiscal year ending March 2006, 2007, and 2008 earnings and dividends. Its October 2006 modification was followed by further upward revisions issued on January 10, 2007. No such upward modification announcement was made in January of 2006.

Investors looking for a revised forecast of earnings and dividends by Nintendo need to focus their attention on a possible announcement by the company around January 10, 2008. A failure to announce upward modifications would likely cause a cool response and disappointment from Nintendo stockowners who have grown accustomed to seeing long lines of Wii buyers being unable to buy the console.

For the past month, as Christmas shopping accelerated, the Wii console has generally garnered eBay bids of $100 and more above the retail price. At such prices, eBay resellers are surely making more than either Nintendo or its licensed retailers.

Nintendo’s stock price action indicates that stockowners remain relatively confident that the public’s appetite for the Wii will not wane. Knowledgeable observers believe that sales of the Wii in 2008 and future years will now be driven by an abundance of video games likely to be introduced by Nintendo itself and other game developers.