If You Invested $1,000 In Nintendo Stock When The First Pokemon Game Was Released In The US, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

Video game company Nintendo Co NTDOY got its start in 1889 as a playing card company. The company would transform into a video game giant in the 1970s and go on to be one of the most recognizable companies in the world. Here's a look at how the stock has performed since Pokémon games were released.

What Happened: Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console in the 1980s and would go on to release more consoles over the years like the Game Boy, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo 64.

Nintendo has its own characters like Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong and Zelda that have served as exclusives for video games released on its consoles. The company also is the exclusive distributor of games including The Pokemon Company characters, which has helped over the years.

The Pokemon Company celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021. The company is home to video games, trading cards, collectibles and one of the most licensed brands.

Nintendo is a 32% owner of The Pokemon Company, which provides a boost on two fronts. The company benefits from being the exclusive home of Pokemon video games and also benefits as the value of The Pokemon Company increases from its success across games, cards and licensing.

The first Pokemon video game was released in Japan in 1996. On September 28, 1998, “Pokemon Red” and “Pokemon Blue” were released in North America. The games went on to be among the fastest-selling Game Boy games of all time and the bestselling video game titles in 1999. 

Pokemon remains one of the bestselling video game franchises of all time, and the company continues to release new trading cards each year. Along with success on consoles, the release of the mobile game “Pokemon Go” in 2016 was also a massive success. The game saw millions of people download the game, making it one of the highest-grossing mobile titles for several years.

The company also has movies and television series that come out frequently, with streaming giant Netflix Inc NFLX the current home to much of the Pokemon content in many territories worldwide.

Netflix and The Pokemon Company announced a new stop-motion animated series called “Pokemon Concierge” Monday, which will be coming to the streaming platform in the future.

Related Link: Looking Back On Pokemon's 25th Anniversary: Trading Cards, Video Games And Happy Meals

Investing $1,000 in Nintendo Stock: While gamers were excited to play the first Pokemon games, investors in Nintendo have also been happy to watch the success of exclusive games boosting Nintendo’s sales.

Shares of Nintendo trade over the counter as an American Depositary Receipt in the U.S.

A $1,000 investment in Nintendo stock on Sep. 28, 1998, when the first games were released in North America, could have purchased 434.78 shares based on a split-adjusted price of $2.30.

The $1,000 investment would be worth $4,139.11 today, based on a price of $9.52 for Nintendo shares at the time of writing. This represents a return of 313.9% over the last 24.5 years, or an average annual return of 12.8%.

While Pokemon video gamers sought to catch ‘em all, investors in Nintendo have done just fine, too.

Read Next: Nintendo Acquires A Movie Comapny, Are We Getting More Video Game Movies? 

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