Best Buy sales, profits wilt in Q2, exceed analyst projections

Best Buy sales and profits slid in the second quarter as the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain continues to wrestle with a pullback in spending after Americans splurged during the pandemic, the Associated Press reports.

The decline in sales was smaller than what Wall Street had anticipated, however, and profits were better than expected.

Comparable sales — sales from physical stores open at least a year, and digital channels — fell 6.3%, dragged down by declines in computing and appliances.

Best Buy earned $274 million, or $1.25 per share, during the quarter ended July 29. That easily topped the per-share earnings of $1.06 that Wall Street was expecting but was below the $306 million the company earned in the same period last year.

Sales fell 7.2% to $9.58 billion, slightly better than analyst estimates.

Experts say this year may be the low point in demand for new technology after two years of declines, and next year the consumer electronics industry should stabilize and enjoy possible growth as shoppers look to upgrade and replace their gadgets.

Best Buy lowered the high-end of its full year revenue outlook to the midpoint that it had previously issued but left the low-end of its revenue guidance unchanged. At the same time, it narrowed its profitability ranges.

Shares were essentially flat before the opening bell today.