Analyst: Nintendo 'Could Rival Apple' As Stocks Surge

As Nintendo shares rose to a record high on Wednesday, speculation has arisen that the company could once again raise its earnings forecast, after Goldman Sachs compared the games giant directly to Apple in terms of profit valuations and market innovation. Shares closed up 2.7 percent yesterday, at ¥64,800 ($556.93) – an all-time high for Nintendo. Early morning trading in Europe saw the share price up by 4.01 percent today. Apart from rumors of a possible rise in earnings forecasts, the upsurge was attributed to coverage of the company by investment bank Goldman Sachs, which gave Nintendo’s shares a “buy” rating. The firm gave a new target price per share of ¥71,000 ($610.16) for the company. According to news agency Reuters the Goldman Sachs report stated that, “We believe Nintendo's talent in creating new markets, evident from the launch of the DS and Wii, could bring it close to the level of Apple, whose high valuations are due in large part to its innovative business model.” Nintendo has already raised its forecasts once for the current business year, by as much as 20 percent, with current estimates standing at full year profits of ¥120 billion ($1.03bn) and net sales of ¥900 billion ($7.73bn).