Japan tech stocks tumble as earnings fall short

STORY: Japanese tech stocks took a tumble on Wednesday (February 8), adding to signs of a slowdown for the sector right across the world.

The drops were driven by a slew of disappointing earnings from big names.

Nintendo shares sank after the gaming firm reported lower sales and profit, and cut its outlook for the year.

Its flagship Switch console has now been on the market for six years, and analysts say demand has waned.

Its shares closed down by 7.5%.

Sharp did even worse, posting a drop of over 12%, making it the day’s biggest decliner.

The maker of displays and telecoms gear reported a quarterly loss, and said it expected to be in the red for the full year.

And giant tech investor SoftBank saw its shares drop over 5%.

Its been hit by a fourth-straight quarterly loss at its massive Vision Fund investment unit.

The results add to evidence that tech firms are being hit by a downturn in consumer spending driven by rising inflation and interest rates.

Recent weeks have seen big U.S. names including Microsoft and Dell announce huge layoffs as they grapple with slowing demand.

Wednesday’s tech tumble saw Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index reverse early gains to close 0.3% lower on the day.