Best Buy (BBY) reported a surprise sales slump in its key holiday shopping season.
Same-store sales declined 0.8% in the fourth quarter, the company said Tuesday. Wall Street had hoped for a 0.2% increase after two straight quarters of positive growth.
“We continue to see customers who are resilient, but they are definitely deal-focused,” Best Buy CEO Corie Barry told Yahoo Finance in a call with reporters.
Best Buy expects first quarter same-store sales to return to growth, rising 1%. Barry said more than 50% of its customers make more than $100,000 per year.
Revenue for the fourth quarter totaled $13.81 billion, less than the $13.88 billion Wall Street had expected, per Bloomberg consensus data. Adjusted earnings per share came in higher at $2.61, more than the $2.46 the Street predicted. Best Buy stock is down more than 30% in the past year, but popped up more than 8% in early trading.
For the full year, revenue came in at $41.69 billion, just below the $41.76 billion Wall Street predicted. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $6.43, $0.12 above Wall Street’s estimates for $6.31.
For the year, same-store sales grew 0.5%, less than the 0.9% increase Wall Street was looking for.
For 2027, the company expects revenue to come in the range of $41.2 billion to $42.1 billion, alongside same-store sales that are expected to fall in a range between a 1% decline and 1% rise for the year.
Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be in a range of $6.30-$6.60.
This year, Best Buy is also watching the rise in memory costs as heightened demand impacts supply. Barry said it’s “something our industry has faced in different peaks and valleys relatively often through the past 25 years.”
She added that the team is pulling in inventory, trying to provide its manufacturers with longer forecast horizons, working to find the right price points for consumers, and educating them on what’s available.
The team expects strength in computing and mobile phones to continue into 2026, after posting momentum in the fourth quarter, up 5.4%.