Best Buy Might Be Immune From the Amazon Threat

In the e-commerce era, when brick-and-mortar retailers by and large are failing, Best Buy is making a name for itself.

Published July 22, 2020, 11:33am 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

In the e-commerce era, when brick-and-mortar retailers by and large are failing, Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY | BBY Price Prediction) is making a name for itself. Even considering the looming threat of Amazon, Best Buy could stand tall. At least that’s what its most recent sales report indicates.

Customers finally were allowed back into Best Buy stores at the beginning of the second quarter. This started as an in-store consultation service to customers by appointment only. On June 15, Best Buy opened its doors for customers to shop without an appointment at over 800 stores in the United States. Almost all stores were open by June 22.

Best Buy’s quarter-to-date sales as of July 18 increased roughly 2.5% compared to last year. This included domestic sales growth of 2% and international sales growth of 8%. What stands out here is that online sales growth is estimated to increase 255% year over year.

The biggest drivers of growth in sales were the computing, appliance and tablet categories.

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Since the company opened up a majority of its stores on June 15, it has seen sales growth of about 15%, compared to the same period last year. Also, during the quarter, Best Buy expects to see sales growth of approximately 185%.

Management was quick to point out that it had withdrawn financial guidance for the fiscal full year. Management also said that the company would provide additional business updates when it releases second-quarter results in late August.

For the fiscal second quarter, analysts expected $0.77 in earnings per share and $8.96 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $1.08 in EPS and $9.54 billion in revenue.

Best Buy stock traded up about 9% on Wednesday to $98.24, in a 52-week range of $48.11 to $99.41. The consensus price target is $87.92.

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Chris Lange

Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.

His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.

When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.

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