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Best Buy reports modest sales recovery, but says tariffs are complicating its turnaround

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Best Buy reports modest sales recovery, but says tariffs are complicating its turnaround


Logo of Best Buy displayed outside a Best Buy store in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on March 22, 2025.

Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Best Buy surpassed Wall Street revenue and earnings expectations for its most recent quarter on Thursday, but stuck with its full-year forecast, citing tariff uncertainty.

On the company’s earnings call, CEO Corie Barry said the retailer is “increasingly confident about our plans for the back half of the year.” She said the company is “trending toward the higher end of our sales range.”

Yet she said, “given the uncertainty of potential tariff impacts in the back half, both on consumers overall as well as our business, we feel it is prudent to maintain the annual guidance we provided last quarter.”

The consumer electronics retailer said it expects revenue of $41.1 billion to $41.9 billion and adjusted earnings per share in a range of $6.15 to $6.30 for its full fiscal year 2026. In May, Best Buy had cut its full-year profit guidance from a prior range of $6.20 to $6.60.

The middle of Best Buy’s expected full-year revenue range would be roughly flat to its revenue of $41.53 billion in the previous year. Best Buy said it expects full-year comparable sales, a metric that tracks online sales and sales at stores open at least 14 months, to range between a 1% decline and a 1% increase.

Chief Financial Officer Matt Bilunas said the company’s full-year guidance reflects that some shoppers could hold off on purchases in the third quarter. He said the retailer could see a slowdown in the business in October “as people are waiting for those holiday deals to come.”

For Best Buy, back-to-school season is a crucial time as families and students come to the store for laptops, tablets and more. Barry said the company has seen “a strong customer response” to its sales events during the season.

“These results demonstrate an important aspect of our thesis: Our model really shines when there is innovation,” she said.

Shares of Best Buy were down about 4% in afternoon trading.

Here’s how the retailer did for the three-month period that ended August 2 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: $1.28 adjusted vs. $1.21 expected
  • Revenue: $9.44 billion vs. $9.24 billion expected

Best Buy’s net income for the fiscal second quarter of 2026 fell to $186 million, or 87 cents per share, from $291 million, or $1.34 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusting for one-time items, including restructuring charges, Best Buy reported earnings per share of $1.28.

Revenue increased from $9.29 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Best Buy has been navigating a challenging trifecta of factors. Customers have bought fewer kitchen appliances as they put off home purchases and projects because of higher interest rates. Some have hesitated to splurge on pricier items because of tariff-related uncertainty or held out on tech replacements as they wait for new or eye-catching items. The company’s annual sales have declined for the past three years.

To spur growth, Best Buy launched a third-party marketplace earlier this month to offer shoppers a wider selection of consumer electronics, accessories and more. On the marketplace, sellers who apply for the platform can list their own brands and items on Best Buy’s website and app.

The company already increased prices on some items because of tariff-related higher costs, Barry said on a mid-May call with reporters. She did not specify which items now cost more and described price increases as “the very last resort.”

Still, tariffs did not have a material impact on fiscal second-quarter financial results, Barry said on the company’s earnings call Thursday.

Shopping patterns

Barry said that shopping patterns at Best Buy have not changed from previous quarters. She said customers are “resilient, but deal-focused” and have been attracted to the company’s sales events like the one it held in July.

“In the current environment, customers continue to be thoughtful about big ticket purchases and are willing to spend on high price point products when they need to, or when there is technology innovation,” she said.

Best Buy’s comparable sales rose 1.6% in the fiscal second quarter compared to the year-ago period. That marked the company’s highest growth in three years, Barry said on the company’s earnings call.

In the U.S., comparable sales increased 1.1%, as customers bought mobile phones, video gaming equipment and items from its computing category. However, those sales trends were partially offset by weaker sales of appliances, home theaters, tablets and drones, the company said.

Investors have looked for signs that the replacement cycle is picking up about five years after consumers stocked up on laptops, kitchen appliances, computer screens and more during the Covid pandemic.

There were some indications of that rebound in Best Buy’s second quarter. Barry said the retailer’s computing category marked its sixth consecutive quarter of sales growth. It also recorded the highest number of second-quarter laptop unit sales in 15 years, she said.

Gaming in particular had stronger-than-expected sales in the quarter, thanks to the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, Barry said. The retailer capitalized on the highly anticipated launch by offering a way for customers to pre-order and opening stores at midnight when the gaming console dropped on June 5, so customers could line up and get it right away.

In the back half of the year, Barrie said Best Buy will try to rev up sales in slower categories like appliances and home theater by sharpening price points, adjusting the merchandise it sells and expanding the staffing devoted to them. The retailer has increasingly leaned on its vendor partners to staff stores, bringing in employees of Apple and Samsung for example, to support sales in different parts of its stores.

Barry said the retailer expects brands to ramp up those staffing contributions in the back half of the year.

Along with adding more dedicated brand experts to its stores, Best Buy has added new experiences to attract and engage customers. It’s testing mini-showrooms with Ikea that feature kitchen and laundry room appliances and merchandise from both retailers in 10 stores in Florida and Texas. It is also rolling out new experiences with Breville and SharkNinja to show off trendy coffeemakers, beauty items and more, Barry said. And it has areas in stores where shoppers can try out Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses with Meta AI technology.

For the Nintendo Switch 2 launch, Best Buy worked with Nintendo to double the space in stores ahead of the June launch. Nintendo also brought game trucks to select stores, physical trailers where customers could play with the new system and try out the latest videogames.

Best Buy’s fiscal second-quarter online sales in the U.S. rose 5.1% year over year and accounted for about a third of Best Buy’s total U.S. revenue in the quarter.



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Rs 20,000 crore gold, silver rush: What will people buy this Akshaya Tritiya? – The Times of India

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Rs 20,000 crore gold, silver rush: What will people buy this Akshaya Tritiya? – The Times of India


This Akshaya Tritiya, India’s gold and silver markets are heading for bumper purchases, with overall trade likely to cross Rs 20,000 crore even as record-high prices reshape buying patterns. The estimate, shared by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), is higher than last year’s Rs 16,000 crore, signalling growth in value despite a sharp rise in bullion rates.Prices for the yellow metal have surged sharply over the past year, going from Rs 1,00,000 per 10 grams, to Rs 1.58 lakh. Meanwhile, silver has shown a steeper rally, jumping from Rs 85,000 per kilogram to Rs 2.55 lakh per kilogram. According to CAIT, this sharp escalation has not weakened demand, but is instead prompting consumers to make more deliberate and value-oriented purchases.Praveen Khandelwal, member of parliament from Chandni Chowk and secretary general of CAIT told ANI, “Akshaya Tritiya has traditionally been one of India’s most auspicious occasions for purchasing gold… While gold continues to dominate, the nature of purchasing is evolving significantly in response to steep price escalation.”Commenting on customer preference, CAIT national president BC Bhartia highlighted, “There is a clear shift towards lightweight, wearable jewellery, alongside a stronger focus on silver and diamond products. Attractive incentives such as reduced making charges and complimentary gold coins are also helping sustain consumer interest.”Despite the increase in overall trade value, the quantity of metals being sold tells a different story. Pankaj Arora, National President of the All India Jewellers and Goldsmith Federation (AIJGF), an associate of CAIT, explained that the projected Rs 16,000 crore gold trade amounts to nearly 10,000 kilograms (10 tonnes) at current rates. The value, spread across an estimated 2 to 4 lakh jewellers, translates to average sales of only 25 to 50 grams per jeweller, “clearly indicating a sharp decline in volume”.Meanwhile for silver, the estimated Rs 4,000 crore trade corresponds to around 1,56,800 kilograms (157 tonnes), resulting in average sales of about 400 to 800 grams per jeweller during the festival period. “These figures underline a critical shift: while the value of business is expanding due to rising prices, actual consumption is contracting,” Khandelwal said.This gap between value and volume is also reshaping consumer’s buying pattern, with smaller items and lightweight jewellery gaining popularity. At the same time, jewellers are facing challenges due to fluctuating prices, especially when it comes to managing inventory.Even so, festive demand remains steady, with markets witnessing healthy footfall. “Consumers are now adopting a more cautious and pragmatic approach, balancing traditional beliefs with financial discipline,” Khandelwal added.At the same time, it’s not just about physical gold anymore as consumers are increasingly exploring alternatives like digital gold, Sovereign Gold Bonds and gold ETFs, drawn by the promise of liquidity, safety and flexibility when prices are volatile.CAIT and AIJGF have urged jewellers to comply with mandatory hallmarking standards, including HUID certification, and advised buyers to verify the purity and authenticity of their purchases.



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The cost of rising rents: Working four jobs and pushed on to benefits

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The cost of rising rents: Working four jobs and pushed on to benefits



Lauren Elcock is among the young Londoners who say rising rents are forcing them to quit the capital.



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Scams have grown more sophisticated, but people are fighting back

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Scams have grown more sophisticated, but people are fighting back


As governments across the world restricted the movements of their citizens during Covid lockdowns from 2020, people spent more time online. We bought more online and socialised more online, and this brought us closer to the people who want to scam us. At the same time, realistic video impersonations, voices, websites, and texts became more commonplace, and scammers increased their use of social media including WhatsApp.



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