Team Nintendo's Stock Price Blasts Off Following Pokemon Go Release

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By Michael Justin Allen Sexton
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The release of Pokemon Go on July 6 is benefiting Nintendo in multiple ways. Nintendo’s stock price has risen sharply, climbing roughly 25 percent since the company launched the game.

If you haven’t yet played Pokemon Go, it centers on a simple implementation of AR technology. Niantic Labs created the game, and it licensed the Pokemon IP from Nintendo. The game has generated an incredible amount of interest, in part because it is free. The developers monetize the game through the increasingly popular in-game purchase model.

Players walk around with their smartphones in hand and search for virtual Pokemon hidden around the world. These Pokemon can be essentially anywhere; a store, a park, a beach, or even in your own home. Users can catch, battle or train the Pokemon.

Before Pokemon Go’s release, Nintendo’s stock was trading between 13,920 and 14,490 JPY (approximately $135-$141 USD). The stock price grew steadily over the last few days, and now it has climbed to 20,260 JPY (approximately $197) at press time.

This sharp increase will likely motivate Nintendo to increase its presence in the smartphone market to continue growing the value of its stock. The game is currently only available in Australia and the United States, but Nintendo’s stock prices will likely continue to grow over the next few weeks as Nintendo launches Pokemon Go in new nations.

Michael Justin Allen Sexton
Michael Justin Allen Sexton is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He covers hardware component news, specializing in CPUs and motherboards.
21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thundervore
    Although a great game on its own this is not the Pokémon we know and love. This game is centered around the one who is willing to spend the most actual real currency will be the better trainer.....well not actually trainer but player.

    A game where you have to spend real money for in game poke coins is ridiculous. At a rate of $1 for 100 pokecoins it can be come real expensive real fast
    Reply
  • ahnilated
    Careful, people are being sucked into being robbed at gun point because of this game in some cities.
    Reply
  • dankcik09
    i see cars hitting kids walking in the middle of the street.
    Reply
  • Yes, a lot of problems are happening, from people being lured in isolated places and then being robbed, to people being oblivious of their environment and standing in the middle of a road, etc. It's a Darwin experiment in a way.

    I doubt the stock price increase has anything to do with this app. Do you really think a single app like this can increase stock prices 25%? Going by market cap, that would mean this app is worth, according to investors, $5.75 Billion. I doubt it.
    Reply
  • Kenneth Barker
    I feel this is a great injustice to what Pokemon was. This is nothing more than a cash grab for a useless and otherwise terrible game if it wasn't piggybacking off the pokemon license.

    There is also an alarming number of adults behaving like children with this. I grew up in the Pokemon generation and was a huge fan, when I was 10. This is fine, but when a pay-2-win game makes a huge stock jump 15% practically over night. That is terrible news for everyone in the gaming world. Queue the even larger wave of pay-2-win games that lack content and are in every single way, worse than what we used to get for our money.

    I am a huge opponent to this sort of thing. It is a real shame that this is the garbage of the future.
    Reply
  • problematiq
    I tried playing, but in Oklahoma all the gyms and pokestops are located in churches.... real funny Nintendo. Also, I am super disappointed there are no electric types next to this giant power plant -.-
    Reply
  • why_wolf
    Made $200 bucks off the unwarranted stock bump. Investors are morons and will swarm over anything that seems to "sell" big without ever asking if it actually makes money.
    Reply
  • jeremy2020
    Well, until next week when everyone gets bored with it and find out it is a massive security risk: http://adamreeve.tumblr.com/post/147120922009/pokemon-go-is-a-huge-security-risk
    Reply
  • quilciri
    Famine, Plague, War, Death, Nintendo.
    Reply
  • WildCard999
    Nearly all of the micro transactions can be avoided if you go to the poke'stops to replenish items. Also poke'coins can be earned every 21 hours after holding a gym. Really, the only ppl buying the items with cash are the ones too lazy to go to various locations and the game wants you to travel, that's kind of the point of the game. Most of the ppl I know that are high level haven't spent any money but do play a lot! And unlike other F2P app/game there's no ads in the game.
    Reply