Shares of Best Buy Inc.
BBY,
leapt 4.2% toward a seven-month high in premarket trading Thursday, after the retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that beat expectations, as strength in the international business helped offset continued pressure on consumer electronics sales. Net income for the quarter to Feb. 3 fell to $460 million, or $2.12 a share, from $495 million, or $2.23 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as $169 million in restructuring charges related to employee layoff benefits, adjusted earnings per share of $2.72 beat the FactSet consensus of $2.52. Revenue slipped 0.6% to $14.65 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $14.56 billion, as U.S. sales fell 0.9% while international sales increased 2.7%. Overall same-store sales, or sales of stores open at least a year, declined 4.8% to beat the FactSet consensus of a 5.4% decline. Looking ahead, the company expects fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS of $5.75 to $6.20 and revenue of $41.3 billion to $42.6 billion, compared with expectations for EPS of $6.16 and for revenue of $42.33 billion. The stock has gained 12.6% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF
XLY,
has tacked on 8.4% S&P 500
SPX,
has advanced 11.4%.
