Nintendo Loses Billions in Market Value Amid Worries Over Surging Chip Costs

By Jason Chau

Nintendo's shares have slid more than 10% over the past week. Analysts say worries about rising memory-chip prices are to blame.

The videogame maker's stock closed in the red again Thursday, extending a losing streak that has shaved off more than $12 billion off its market value and pushed shares to seven-month lows.

The declines come as industry experts flag headwinds from surging prices of memory chips, a core part of gaming consoles. Market intelligence firm TrendForce expects that to swell costs for console makers like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft.

In a recent report, TrendForce said the chip issue is why Nintendo's Switch 2 is more expensive than its predecessor, as the latest version of the console has double the memory capacity, driving up component costs. Prices for Microsoft's Xbox were recently adjusted too.

TrendForce estimates that memory modules will comprise up to 21%-23% of Nintendo's total hardware costs in 2026.

Prices of memory chips have been on the rise due to the artificial-intelligence boom, which has been drawing down existing supplies.

That is making life difficult for gaming console companies, said Pelham Smithers, head of U.K.-based Japanese equity research firm Pelham Smithers Associates.

As AI demand keeps growing, memory prices are unlikely to come down soon, analysts say.

Memory prices are likely to stay high at least through the next year and into 2027, investment research firm Morningstar said in a note.

"The shortage of conventional memory is becoming increasingly severe as suppliers redirect their resources toward high-bandwidth memory for artificial intelligence," Morningstar director Kazunori Ito said. That will inevitably affect Nintendo's short-term profitability, he added.

The fact that the Switch 2 was released recently puts Nintento at a disadvantage compared with peers that have a more established installation base, preventing it from hiking prices to cover memory costs, said Smithers.

He expects prices for dynamic random access memory--a type of semiconductor--to weigh on the Japanese company significantly in the second half of 2026.

The Japanese company behind the "Super Mario" and "The Legend of Zelda" game series said last month that it remains confident about the profitability of the Switch 2, even with more expensive components.

"Barring major external changes such as shifts in tariff assumptions or other unforeseen circumstances, we believe we can maintain the current level of hardware profitability for the time being," Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said in November, citing the company's cost-cutting strategy.

Ito said that memory shortages are unlikely to hinder Nintendo's console production or hurt shipments, and maintained his margin assumptions over the medium term.

Analysts say it will be key to watch how much further memory prices go.

"The issue with Nintendo isn't necessarily whether it can handle what is happening now. The problem is what happens if it gets worse," said Smithers.

Write to Jason Chau at jason.chau@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 11, 2025 04:59 ET (09:59 GMT)