Are Best Buy Q4 Results Strong Enough for Investors?

Best Buy released better than expected fiscal fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday.

Published February 27, 2020, 10:35am ET · 2 min read

An exterior shot of a Best Buy store, featuring its distinct blue facade and a large yellow 'BEST BUY' logo prominently displayed on the upper left. The building has large glass entrance doors with an illuminated red 'OPEN' sign, and sections of reddish-brown brickwork are visible. Several people are near the entrance, and a black Volkswagen Beetle is parked to the right, under an overcast sky.
The exterior of a Best Buy store, as the consumer electronics retailer faces a double downgrade from Goldman Sachs. © Scott Olson / Getty Images

When Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY | BBY Price Prediction) released its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday, the retailer said that it had $2.90 in earnings per share (EPS) and $15.20 billion in revenue. That compared with consensus estimates of $2.75 in EPS and $15.05 billion in revenue, as well as the $2.72 per share and $14.8 billion posted in the same period of last year.

During the latest quarter, enterprise comparable sales increased 3.2% year over year, compared with an increase of 3.0% last year. This consists of domestic comparable sales increasing 3.4%, domestic comparable online sales increasing 18.7% and international comparable sales increasing 1.6%.

The largest comparable sales growth drivers were headphones, computing, appliances, mobile phones and tablets. These drivers were partially offset by declines in the gaming category.

Domestic revenue totaled $13.85 billion, with online revenue making up about $3.52 billion of these sales. International revenues were $1.35 billion.

Looking ahead to the fiscal first quarter, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $1.00 to $1.05, enterprise revenue between $9.1 billion and $9.2 billion, and comparable sales growth of flat to 1.0%. Consensus estimates call for $1.01 in EPS and $9.28 billion in revenue for the quarter.

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Corie Barry, Best Buy’s CEO, commented:

We are posting our 12th straight quarter of comparable sales growth and showing our strength as a successful multi-channel retailer who can meet customers when and where they want. We offered compelling holiday deals that resonated with customers and provided a seamless shopping experience, great inventory availability and fast and free delivery. Across online, home and stores, we are fulfilling our purpose to help enrich people’s lives through technology while also helping technology companies commercialize their product innovations.

Best Buy stock traded down 3% at $79.40 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $61.58 to $91.99. The consensus price target is $89.68.

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Chris Lange

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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