Nintendo Co. shares gained as much as 10.5% in their steepest climb since April as the surprise success of its new Pokémon game helped offset worries around rising memory costs.
The rally comes as physical copies of Pokémon Pokopia, released exclusively for the Switch 2 console on March 5, have sold out at several major retailers in the US.
Switch 2 momentum is “surging thanks to the viral hit,” helping to counteract “memory cost headwinds” that have weighed on Nintendo’s stock since late 2025, wrote Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal in a note. Amazon has already raised the price of the Pokémon title to around $80 in a sign of its popularity, he added.
Pokémon Pokopia’s success is a welcome surprise for Nintendo investors, who have been battered by fears that skyrocketing memory prices, fueled by insatiable demand for AI, could squeeze the company’s margins.
“The Pokémon game was a dark horse,” said Hideki Yasuda, a senior analyst at Toyo Securities Co. “It was totally off people’s radars, making its popularity a positive development.” The Animal Crossing-style game has been flying off store shelves from Japan to Canada, underscoring its global appeal, he said.
However, even taking into account Wednesday’s climb, Nintendo shares have lost almost 30% from a recent peak in November. The shares were trading around ¥10,000 as of 12:30 p.m. in Tokyo.
