Retail

Best Buy Might Be Immune From the Amazon Threat

Chris Lange

Published: July 22, 2020 11:33 am

In the e-commerce era, when brick-and-mortar retailers by and large are failing, Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is making a name for itself. Even considering the looming threat of Amazon, Best Buy could stand tall. At least that’s what its most recent sales report indicates.

Customers finally were allowed back into Best Buy stores at the beginning of the second quarter. This started as an in-store consultation service to customers by appointment only. On June 15, Best Buy opened its doors for customers to shop without an appointment at over 800 stores in the United States. Almost all stores were open by June 22.

Best Buy’s quarter-to-date sales as of July 18 increased roughly 2.5% compared to last year. This included domestic sales growth of 2% and international sales growth of 8%. What stands out here is that online sales growth is estimated to increase 255% year over year.

The biggest drivers of growth in sales were the computing, appliance and tablet categories.

Since the company opened up a majority of its stores on June 15, it has seen sales growth of about 15%, compared to the same period last year. Also, during the quarter, Best Buy expects to see sales growth of approximately 185%.

Management was quick to point out that it had withdrawn financial guidance for the fiscal full year. Management also said that the company would provide additional business updates when it releases second-quarter results in late August.

For the fiscal second quarter, analysts expected $0.77 in earnings per share and $8.96 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $1.08 in EPS and $9.54 billion in revenue.

Best Buy stock traded up about 9% on Wednesday to $98.24, in a 52-week range of $48.11 to $99.41. The consensus price target is $87.92.