Nintendo Stock Drops 10 Percent Following 3DS Announcement

Shares in Nintendo Ltd. closed 9.34 percent lower on the Osaka Securities Exchange yesterday, falling 2,150 yen to 20,860 ($250), after the publisher cut its fiscal-year forecasts and announced that its forthcoming 3DS handheld won't launch until February. While the company had not previously set a release date for the system, market-watchers had been expecting the 3DS to launch in Japan before the holiday season, with a U.S. launch following in early 2011. Nintendo said yesterday that it expects a fiscal year profit of ¥90 billion ($1.08 billion) -- a significant reduction on May's ¥200 billion ($2.4 billion) forecast. Additionally, the publisher cut its DS handheld unit sales forecasts by 22 percent and its Wii console targets by 3 percent. "The earnings forecast has been modified to reflect the trend of stronger-than-expected yen appreciation, current sales performance, the sales outlook for the holiday season and the decided release conditions for the Nintendo 3DS," the company said in a statement. The drop in stock may have also affected third-party game publishers that produce titles for Nintendo systems. Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and THQ Inc. were all trading down more than 1 percent in the U.S. by midday yesterday.