Best Buy Beats Earnings Expectations, But Sales Fall Short

Highlights

• Best Buy’s earnings exceeded expectations, but sales did not meet estimates.
• The company maintains its forecast of weaker consumer electronics spending.
• Best Buy’s net income and comparable sales declined in the first quarter.

Overview

Best Buy on Thursday topped Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations, but its sales missed estimates and it reiterated expectations for weaker spending on consumer electronics this year.

The retailer affirmed the outlook it shared in March. It expects full-year revenue of between $43.8 billion and $45.2 billion, a decline from its most recent fiscal year, and a comparable sales decline of between 3% and 6%.

Shares rose more than 4% in premarket trading.

Customers Cautious Amidst High Inflation

CEO Corie Barry said Best Buy has not seen a change with its mix of customers and the percentage of premium products that they buy.

Still, she added that “in this environment, customers are clearly feeling cautious and making tradeoff decisions as they continue to deal with high inflation and low consumer confidence due to a number of factors.”

Best Buy Tops Expectations, Misses on Sales

Here’s how the company did for the three-month period that ended April 29, compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $1.15 adjusted vs. $1.11 expected

Revenue: $9.47 billion vs. $9.52 billion expected

Best Buy’s net income in the first quarter fell to $244 million, or $1.11 per share, from $341 million, or $1.49 per share, a year earlier.

Net sales declined from $10.65 billion in the year-ago period and fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Comparable sales declined 10.1% in the quarter, in line with the drop expected by investors, according to StreetAccount.

Best Buy Down for Year, Up in Pre-Market Trade

Shares of Best Buy closed Wednesday at $69.15, bringing the company’s market value to $15.12 billion. So far this year, its stock is down about 14%, trailing the 7% gains of the S&P 500 and the 2% declines of the retail-focused XRT during the same period.