Revising estimates downward after the holiday quarter is never ideal, but honestly, what else could we have anticipated?
Today, Nintendo shared its financial results for the fourth calendar quarter of 2024, wrapping things up as business concluded in Japan. Normally, these numbers would be impressive for any quarter, but this time they seem a bit underwhelming due to it being the Switch’s eighth holiday quarter.
All the financial figures are in yen (¥), with US dollar conversions provided, using a rate of ¥155.32 = $1 for clarity.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue hit ¥423.919 billion, which is around $2.787 billion, marking a 27.67% drop from the previous year.
- Operating Income came in at ¥126.084 billion, or roughly $812 million, down by 31.60%.
- Ordinary Income saw an uptick, reaching ¥180.017 billion, which is about $1.159 billion, showing a 42.6% increase.
- Digital Sales summed up to ¥85.9 billion, approximately $553 million, decreasing by 33.36%. However, digital sales make up 51% of the software sold this fiscal year.
- Mobile and IP Revenue fell by 8.42%, finishing at ¥18.5 billion or around $119.1 million.
Hardware Shipments
This quarter saw 4.82 million Switch systems shipped. Breaking it down further, there were 2.62 million OLED models, 1.52 million standard versions, and 780,000 Lites. With the Switch now surpassing 150 million units shipped, it seems likely it will exceed the DS’s numbers by 2025, needing only 3.16 million more shipments. Moreover, 9.24 million additional shipments are required to overtake the PlayStation 2, according to Sony’s updated figures for late 2024.
New Software
Leading the pack in terms of sales was "Super Mario Party Jamboree," with an impressive 6.17 million units shipped. This new title is outselling both 2018’s "Super Mario Party" and 2021’s "Mario Party Superstars." Meanwhile, another global release from Nintendo, "Mario & Luigi: Brothership," has seen shipments surpass 1.84 million copies.
"The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom," which launched on September 26, has also had a strong showing, shipping 3.91 million copies.
Catalogue Sales
"Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" continues to dominate the Switch software charts, shipping 3.06 million units in this quarter alone (bundles included), bringing its lifetime total to 67.35 million copies. While the top 10 list hasn’t changed, it looks like "Pokémon Scarlet/Violet" is poised to trade spots with "Sword/Shield" in the coming quarters.
Additional Announcements
For the second time this fiscal year, Nintendo has had to scale back its forecasts. The revised figures are now set at 11 million system shipments (down from 12.5 million) and 150 million units of software (previously 160 million). They’ve also adjusted revenue projections down by 7%, operating profit by 22.2%, ordinary profit by 11.9%, and net profit by 10%.
In essence, while there are some setbacks in these revised numbers, Nintendo continues to hold its ground with the Switch, maintaining a significant presence in the gaming world.
