Best Buy Co shares slipped 3.0% in premarket trading after the retailer cut full-year guidance as a fall in the sales of appliances led to softer-than-expected third-quarter sales.
The Richfield, Minnesota-based consumer electronics retailer now expects fourth-quarter comparable sales to decline in the range of 3.0% to 7.0%, with full-year revenue expected between $43.1 billion to $43.7 billion, compared to prior guidance of $43.8 billion to $44.5 billion.
Like-for-like sales are expected to fall by 6.0% to 7.5%, compared to prior guidance of a decline of 4.5% to 6.0%, with non-GAAP diluted EPS of $6.00 to $6.30, adjusted slightly from prior guidance of $6.00 to $6.40.
“Today we are reporting better-than-expected profitability on slightly softer-than-expected revenue for the third quarter,” said chief executive Corie Barry.
But he cautioned in the more recent macro environment, consumer demand has been “even more uneven and difficult to predict.”
“Based on the sales trends in Q3 and so far in November, we believe it is prudent to lower our annual revenue outlook,” he said.
The firm said sales in the quarter ended October 28, 2023 fell to $9.76 billion from $10.59 billion the year before with US sales dropping 8.2% to $9.00 billion.
Best Buy said the largest drivers of the sales decline were appliances, computing, home theatre and mobile phones, partially offset by growth in gaming.