Best Buy jumps despite sales softness as big‑ticket demand stays weak

(Sharecast News) - Best Buy delivered a mixed set of holiday‑quarter results on Tuesday as softer demand for big‑ticket electronics weighed on sales and partly offset an improvement in profitability. Net income for the three months ended 31 January rose to $541m, or $2.56 on a per share basis, up from $117m or $0.54 at the same time a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, which excludes one‑off charges linked to its health business, earnings came in at $2.61 per share.

Quarterly revenues fell from $13.95bn to $13.81bn, though full‑year revenues edged up to $41.69bn from $41.53bn, marking the first annual increase after three consecutive years of declines.

Comparable sales slipped 0.8% in Q4, with weaker demand for appliances and home‑theatre products partly offset by growth in computing and mobile phones.

For the current fiscal year, Best Buy expects revenue of $41.2bn to $42.1bn, compared with $41.69bn in the year just ended, while adjusted earnings per share were forecast in the range of $6.30 to $6.60, after reporting $6.43 for the prior year. Comparable sales were pegged to come in somewhere between a 1% decline and a 1% increase, reflecting continued uncertainty in consumer electronics demand.

As of 1425 GMT, Best Buy shares had surged 11.12% in pre-market action to $68.44 each.





Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com