Nintendo stock price surges as company doubles Switch production

Nintendo Switch sold faster in its first two days than the company’s last red-hot hit, the Wii, and while that is not necessarily an indicator for long-term success, the publisher is treating it that way.

The price of Nintendo shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange jumped 425 yen, or 1.69 percent, to 25,580 yen on Friday from its Thursday close of 24,860 yen. While the Switch had a strong launch, investors are now reacting to the news that Nintendo plans to manufacture 16 million Switch systems in the fiscal year beginning April 1, which is double its previous forecast. The company confirmed that it will have at least 2 million Switch systems in the global retail channel before the end of its current fiscal year on March 31. If Nintendo ends up selling in all of those consoles, it will mean that the Switch really is on a similar trajectory to the Wii. Despite Nintendo’s confidence, that is still a big “if.”