Nintendo’s market cap doubles to $42 bn since Pokemon GO launch on July 6

TOKYO: Shares of Japan’s Nintendo Co soared another 14% on Tuesday, more than doubling the firm’s market capitalisation to 4.5 trillion yen ($42.5 billion or ₹2.85

TOKYO: Shares of Japan’s Nintendo Co soared another 14% on Tuesday, more than doubling the firm’s market capitalisation to 4.5 trillion yen ($42.5 billion or ₹2.85 lakh crore) in just seven sessions since the mobile game Pokémon GO was launched in the United States.

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The surge — ₹1.41 lakh crore — is just short of the market cap of L&T on Bombay Stock Exchange, which on Tuesday was ₹1.46 lakh crore. L&T is the 15th biggest company in India by market cap.

The phenomenal success of Pokémon GO— now available in 35 countries, has triggered massive interest in Nintendo shares, surprising seasoned market players.

“I’ve never seen the trend of such a big company’s shares changing so quickly in such a short period of time,” said Takashi Oba, senior strategist at Okasan Securities.

Nintendo shares ended Tuesday up 14.4% at 31,770 yen, bringing its gains to more than 100% since its July 6 launch.

Turnover in Nintendo shares hit 703.6 billion yen — a quarter of all trade on Tokyo stock exchange’s main board — surpassing the record for trading turnover in individual shares it set on Friday, of 476 billion yen.

The success of Pokémon GO has boosted hopes that Nintendo could capitalise on a line-up of popular characters ranging from Zelda to Super Mario to strengthen its new foray into augmented reality.