Televisions for sale at a Best Buy store in New York City.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Best Buy beat Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations on Thursday, but its sales missed expectations and reiterated expectations for weaker spending Consumer electronics of the year.
Shares rose more than 5% in premarket trading.
The retailer confirmed the outlook it shared in March. It expects full-year revenue of $43.8 billion to $45.2 billion, down from the previous fiscal year, with comparable sales down 3% to 6%.
“In this environment, where clients continue to grapple with high inflation and subdued consumer confidence due to a combination of factors, they are clearly feeling cautious and making trade-off decisions,” Chief Executive Corie Barry said in a news release.
So far, however, Best Buy’s customer demographics and the percentage of premium products they buy have remained largely unchanged, she said.
Here’s how the company performed in the three-month period ended April 29, compared with Wall Street expectations, according to a Refinitiv survey of analysts:
- Earnings per share: $1.15 adjusted, $1.11 expected
- Revenue: $9.47 billion vs. $9.52 billion expected
Best Buy is the latest retailer to share an update on what’s going on with U.S. consumers.Over the past week, many retailers, including walmart, Target and The Home DepotSpeaking of More Price Sensitive Shoppers Less willing to spend on big-ticket or discretionary items — especially compared to years boosted by stimulus checks during the pandemic.
As a consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy is more vulnerable to this pullback because many of the items it sells are higher priced and don’t change out as often.
Best Buy’s first-quarter net income fell to $244 million, or $1.11 a share, from $341 million, or $1.49 a share, a year earlier.
Net sales fell to $9.47 billion in the quarter, down 11% from $10.65 billion a year earlier and missing Wall Street expectations.
Comparable sales fell 10.1% in the quarter, in line with what investors had expected, according to StreetAccount.
The company has been looking for other ways to make money at a time when people aren’t buying as many TVs, smartphones or home theater systems anymore.Earlier this year, it Agreement with Atrium Health, a North Carolina-based healthcare system that sells devices and handles the installation of procedures that allow patients to receive hospital care at home.it recently Relaunch its affiliate programMy Best Buy, for a subscription fee, includes features like tech support, extended returns, and early access to popular products.
best buy also laid off There were hundreds of store employees in April. The retailer declined to disclose the number of people, but said it would add staff in growth areas such as its loyalty program and wellness business.
Over the years, the company’s headcount has shrunk. As of the end of January, Best Buy had more than 90,000 employees in the US and Canada. That’s down from nearly 125,000 employees in early 2020, according to company financial documents.
Best Buy shares closed at $69.15 on Wednesday, giving the company a market value of $15.12 billion. Its shares are down about 14% so far this year, trailing the S&P 500’s 7% gain and retail-focused XRT’s 2% decline over the same period.