Proving the old market adage that its better to travel than arrive, investors in Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) decided to book some profits from a stock that has more than doubled in value since lockdown.
The cue was the retailer’s second-quarter results, which mirrored the secular changes occurring in the retail sector that have been hastened by coronavirus.
On the one hand, sales from its big-box stores struggled as the US emerged from lockdown.
However, the underlying picture told its owns story with online growth up 242% at US$4.85bn, driven by demand from home workers.
“Products that help people work, learn, connect and cook at home, like computing, appliances and tablets, were the largest drivers of our sales growth for the quarter,” said chief executive Corie Barry
“Trends across most categories and services improved materially throughout Q2 as we opened our stores more broadly for shopping, especially categories like large appliances and home theater that benefit from more experiential shopping.”
Total revenues in the three months to August 3 were US$9.91bn, a rise of 3.9% on the year.
Barry said sales in the first three weeks of the third quarter were up 20% year on year.
The shares, US$51 on March 20, were changing hands of US$111.73, down 5%.