When Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) reported its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Wednesday, the electronics retailer said that it had $2.72 in earnings per share (EPS) and $14.8 billion in revenue. This compares with consensus estimates that called for $2.57 in EPS and $14.7 billion in revenue, as well as last year’s posted $2.42 in EPS and $15.36 billion in revenue.
During the most recent quarter, Enterprise comparable sales growth increased 3.0% year over year. This consisted of Domestic comparable sales increasing 3.0% and International comparable sales increasing 2.5%. Domestic comparable online sales grew 9.3%.
From a merchandising perspective, Best Buy generated comparable sales growth across multiple categories, with the largest drivers being wearables, appliances, smart home and gaming. However, these positive drivers were partially offset by a decline in the mobile phone category.
Looking ahead to the fiscal first quarter, Best Buy expects to see EPS in the range of $0.83 to $0.88 and Enterprise revenue between $9.05 billion and $9.15 billion. Consensus estimates call for $0.83 in EPS and $9.18 billion in revenue for the quarter.
Separately, the board of directors approved a new $3 billion share repurchase authorization for the company’s common stock, replacing the existing authorization dated February 2017, which had $1.5 billion in purchases remaining.
Hubert Joly, Best Buy’s board chair and chief executive, commented:
We are very proud of the financial results we have just delivered. For the fourth quarter, we reported a 3.0% increase in our comparable sales, on top of 9.0% comparable sales growth last year. 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. We launched our Total Tech Support program, expanded our In-Home Advisor program and acquired GreatCall. I so appreciate the hard work of our associates, as well as our partners, in driving these terrific results.
Shares of Best Buy were trading up 17% at $70.49 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $47.72 to $84.37 and with a consensus price target of $70.16.
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