Nintendo sold 3.91 million Switch consoles in the April-June quarter, surpassing sales from a year earlier, thanks to the success of its latest "Zelda" game.
"The Super Mario Bros. Movie," which tops this year's global film office, and "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom," released in May, have boosted investor sentiment.
Nintendo (NTDOF) sold 18.51 million "Tears of the Kingdom" units in the first quarter. Metacritic gives the game 96 out of 100, signifying universal acclaim.
The hybrid home-portable Switch, which has received incremental modifications including a handheld-only version, is now in its seventh year on the market. The market is still focused on the timetable of a prospective successor.
Kyoto-based gaming business reaffirmed its 15 million console prediction for the year.The preceding fiscal year saw 17.97 million sales.
Nintendo's success in expanding its hardware's appeal and merging its console and handheld businesses would be demonstrated by meeting the sales objective at this point in the system's lifecycle.
Nintendo has a strong pipeline of games, including "Detective Pikachu Returns" and "Super Mario Bros. Wonder," unlike past years.
Since the Switch launched in key markets in March 2017, Nintendo's shares have returned more than three-fold, including dividends, beating the Nikkei's 91% return.