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Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Nintendo makes video game consoles and the games that run on them.

Nintendo is in the business of fun, and it makes money two ways at once. It sells hardware — mainly the Switch console, a handheld-and-TV hybrid — and it sells software, the games people play on it. Think of it as a razor-and-blades model, except the razor is a $300 handheld and the blades are $60 games that people buy again and again. The company also runs a growing digital store and a subscription service called Switch Online, and it licenses its characters — Mario, Zelda, Pokémon — for movies, theme parks, and merchandise. That last piece is small but growing fast, thanks to the Super Mario Bros. Movie and Nintendo's own stores and parks.

Hardware and software are the two engines, and software is where the money really is. A Switch sold at cost or a small profit pulls people into the ecosystem; then Nintendo sells them games at large margins. In its most recent fiscal year, Nintendo sold roughly 15 million consoles and over 200 million games, with revenue around $11 billion and net profit near $3 billion. The company is famously conservative with cash: it holds billions in cash and securities, pays a modest dividend, and buys back shares occasionally rather than loading up on debt. It rarely makes big acquisitions, preferring to grow its own franchises. The Switch is now in its eighth year, and the big question for investors is what comes next — a successor console, which Nintendo has confirmed is in development.

Nintendo was founded in 1889 in Kyoto as a maker of playing cards, which is a fun fact but not why it matters today. What matters is that it owns some of the most valuable characters in entertainment and controls both the hardware and the games, so it keeps most of the profit. Its customers are families, kids, and nostalgia-driven adults, and they choose Nintendo because its games are hard to find anywhere else. The risks are typical for a hit-driven business: a new console can flop, mobile gaming competes for attention, and the weak yen helps exports but makes imports pricier. Still, Nintendo's balance sheet and its characters give it a rare kind of staying power.

Saved answer · last researched 12 Oct 2026