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Nintendo’s Stock Plummeted After It Said Pokémon Go Would Have a Limited Effect on Its Business

A user plays Pokémon Go on July 20, 2016 in Sydney, Australia

Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

This post originally appeared in Business Insider Australia.

Shares in Nintendo, which owns 32 percent of the global phenomenon Pokémon Go, have tanked in trade on the Nikkei.

The stock closed down by more than 17 percent on Monday, following a statement from the company late Friday that the financial impact of the smartphone game would be “limited.”

Nintendo said the earnings from Pokémon Go were already factored in when the company released its annual forecasts in April.

A week ago, Nintendo shares had almost doubled to $42 billion since the game was released July 6, first in Australia and then worldwide.

But the shares started to slide Wednesday as analysts questioned whether the earnings potential matched the market capitalization.

They started to pick up again Friday when Pokémon Go finally launched in Japan, the country of its birth, but started sliding again Monday when the Japanese market opened.

Nintendo is due to post earnings for the first quarter on Wednesday. The company is forecasting full-year profit of 35 billion yen (440 million Australian dollars, $320 million), more than double last year’s 16.5 billion yen (210 million Australian dollars).

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