Japanese video-game maker Nintendo reported Thursday an 11% improvement in its net profit in the first half of the fiscal year, although its sales declined during that period.

Kyoto-based Nintendo Co.’s April-September profit rose to 220.9 billion yen ($1.4 billion) from nearly 199 billion yen in the same period a year earlier. Sales during the six months slipped 12% to 966 billion yen.

Nintendo, which makes Pokemon, Super Mario and Legend of Zelda games, sold 1.27 million Switch game consoles during the six months, and 6.49 million of its Switch 2 machines, the company said.

In game software, “Star Fox” and “Splatoon Raiders,” released during that period, sold briskly, while earlier releases like “Mario Kart World” were still in demand, it said.

Nintendo’s digital sales, including proceeds from downloadable games, continued to surge. The popularity of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” a 2026 animation film, also boosted its bottom line.

Companies like Nintendo tend to record their biggest sales during the present-giving Christmas and New Year’s seasons.

Nintendo did not break down quarterly details. It kept its projections for the full fiscal year through March 2027 unchanged at 310 billion yen profit, down nearly 27% from the previous fiscal year, on 2 trillion yen in sales, down 11%.

Like other technology companies, Nintendo is facing the problem of a computer chips crunch and surging prices due to the recent global boom in artificial intelligence.

Nintendo stocks rose 6.3% Thursday in Tokyo.

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