Best Buy stock jumps after fourth-quarter earnings beat estimates

Retail chain Best Buy Co (BBY) announced its fourth-quarter 2019 results before the market opened on Feb. 27, fresh out of the holiday season. Following the upbeat top-line and bottom-line numbers, the stock rallied in pre-market trade.

Enterprise revenue slipped to $14.8 billion from last year’s $15.4 billion, primarily due to an extra week last year. Comparable sales in the quarter rose 3% vs. 9% growth last year. Lower expenses saw GAAP earnings soar 119% to $2.69 per diluted share. Non-GAAP diluted EPS rose 12% to $2.72.

The Minnesota-based electronics retailer was expected to post earnings of $2.57 a share on revenue of about $14.7 billion. Including this period, Best Buy has now beaten market estimates for five straight quarters.

“For the full year, our comparable sales grew 4.8% and our EPS increased more than 20%. In addition to these great financial results, we made significant progress implementing our Best Buy 2020 strategy to enrich lives through technology and further develop our competitive differentiation,” said Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly.

LOOKING FORWARD

For the full-year FY2020, Best Buy expects enterprise revenue of $42.9-43.9 billion, with enterprise comparable sales growth of 0.5-2.5%. Non-GAAP diluted earnings is expected to be between $5.45 and $5.65 per share.

Best Buy CFO Corie Barry weighed in, “Going forward, our priority in fiscal 2020 is to continue to transform the company by bringing to market solutions that solve real customer needs and by building customer relationships. From a financial perspective, we expect to drive top-line growth while holding our non-GAAP operating income rate constant – reflecting our continued focus on balancing investments in our strategy, pressures in the business and cost takeout.”

For the first quarter of FY2020, enterprise revenue is expected to be $9.05-9.15 billion, with enterprise comparable sales growth from flat to 1%. For the quarter, Best Buy looks to earn between $0.83 and $0.88 per diluted share, on a non-GAAP basis.

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