Nintendo profits surge 54% as company receives £693m US tariff refund
Nintendo has reported a 54 per cent surge in profits for the six months to June, reaching £693 million, as the Japanese gaming company benefited from a substantial refund of US tariffs that were later ruled unconstitutional.
The maker of Super Mario video games saw its half-year profits jump despite a 9.5 per cent decline in sales to £2.4 billion. The company specifically cited the US tariff refund as a key factor in its financial performance, alongside robust sales of its Switch 2 console and new game titles.
Supreme Court strikes down Trump tariffs
The tariff refund stems from a landmark US Supreme Court decision on 20 February 2026, when justices ruled 6-3 that tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were unconstitutional. The court determined that only Congress holds the constitutional authority to impose tariffs, not the executive branch acting unilaterally.
The ruling triggered one of the largest corporate refund programmes in US history. As of August 2026, the US government has paid approximately $100 billion in tariff refunds to companies, with estimates suggesting between $166 billion and $175 billion in tariffs were collected before being declared illegal.
Nintendo's £693 million refund places it among numerous major corporations receiving substantial returns. Apple received $2.2 billion, Walmart is expected to receive up to $2.4 billion, Ford received $1.3 billion, Nike recovered nearly $986 million, and Amazon received $600 million.
Gaming industry particularly affected
Video game console manufacturers faced particularly severe tariff exposure under the Trump administration's trade policies. Consoles manufactured in China were potentially subject to tariffs as high as 145 per cent before the policies were struck down, with Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all expressing concern about the financial impact on their businesses.
The tariffs originated in spring 2025 when Trump imposed 10 per cent levies across the board on imports from nearly every country, later making escalating threats of higher tariffs to negotiate deals with major trading partners including the UK, EU, Japan and South Korea.
Strong console and game sales
Beyond the tariff refund, Nintendo's financial results were supported by solid performance in its core gaming business. The Switch 2 console has sold 23.68 million units worldwide as of 30 June 2026, according to the company's latest earnings report.
The company also highlighted steady performance from new titles released during the reporting period. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, launched on 21 May 2026, and Star Fox, released on 25 June 2026, both performed well as exclusive Switch 2 titles. Nintendo described sales of these games as contributing to the company's overall strong performance.
Nintendo did not specify the exact amount of its US tariff refund, stating only that the figure helped boost its half-year results. The company's ability to combine the one-time refund windfall with ongoing commercial success in console and game sales delivered the substantial profit increase despite lower overall revenues.
