Tokyo, Jul 27 (IANS): Nintendo stocks rose over 7 per cent at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday as investors welcomed the company's return to profit in the first quarter of the 2017 fiscal year.

Nintendo stocks closed 7.6 per cent higher on Thursday at 38,490 yen ($346), a day after the company posted better-than-expected results owing to the strong performance of its new Switch console and new games, reports Efe news.

The gaming giant posted a net profit of 21.26 billion yen ($190 million) between April-June, reversing losses during the same period in 2016.

It also more than doubled its revenue from sales as compared to a year ago.

Nintendo has sold 4.7 million units of the console since its launch on March 3 and is on track to meet, and even surpass, its target of selling 10 million units of the Switch by March 2018.

Meanwhile, profits from the smartphone sector through its mobile gaming titles like the Super Mario Run, along with IP licensing, also rose 450 per cent between April and June.