Best Buy’s Earnings Pushing Stock to All-Time High, Then It Collapses

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reported fiscal 2018 second-quarter results before markets opened Tuesday. The big-box retailer of electronics gear reported adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.69 and $8.94 billion in revenues. In the same period a year ago, Best Buy posted EPS of $0.57 on revenue of $8.53 billion. Second-quarter results also compare to consensus estimates for $0.63 EPS and $8.66 billion in revenue.

Enterprise level same-store sales rose 4.8% year over year in the quarter, and domestic sales rose by the same amount. In the United States, same-store sales jumped 5.4% in the quarter and online sales rose by 31%.

In the second quarter, Best Buy repurchased 7.3 million shares of stock valued at $398 million and paid out $103 million in dividends. The company’s cumulative share repurchases, net of dilution from equity-based awards, positively benefitted GAAP and non-GAAP diluted EPS by $0.02 in the second quarter.

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The company’s chairman and CEO, Hubert Joly, said:

Our higher-than-expected comparable sales of 5.4% were driven by stronger consumer demand for technology products and by the strong execution of our strategy. Against a backdrop of continued healthy consumer confidence, we believe broad-based product innovation is resonating with consumers and driving higher spend.

Best Buy raised its full-year revenue growth guidance from a previous estimate of 2.5% to 4.0% and now expects non-GAAP operating income growth of 4% to 9%, up by 0.4% at both ends from the prior guidance. For the full fiscal year, analysts have forecast EPS at $3.90 on sales of $40.48 billion.

Best Buy expects third-quarter 2018 adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $0.75 to $0.80. Analysts are expecting third-quarter EPS of $0.65 on sales of $8.99 billion.

The big change in product mix in the company’s domestic segment was sales of entertainment gear. Same-store sales rose 15.4% (from a very low comparable last year) and entertainment contributed 6% of Best Buy’s quarterly revenues compared with 5% in the year-ago quarter. Same-store sales of appliances rose 5.8% year over year, and appliances contributed 11% to total domestic revenues in the quarter.

Shares traded up more than 3% at $64.38, above the 52-week range of $36.51 to $63.32. The consensus 12-month price target was $60.69 before results were announced, with a high target of $72.00. The stock closed at $62.47 on Monday.

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