Best Buy $BBY reported first-quarter results on Thursday that beat analyst expectations, with comparable sales rising 2% — reversing a streak of declines and coming in above the company's own forecast of 1% growth for the quarter.
Revenue for the period ended May 2 reached $8.94 billion, up from $8.77 billion a year earlier. Net income rose to $276 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, compared with $202 million, or 95 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding restructuring adjustments, adjusted diluted earnings per share came in at $1.28. Analysts had expected adjusted EPS of $1.23 and revenue of $8.83 billion, according to CNBC.
Best Buy stock rose roughly 7% in premarket trading.
Gaming, computing, mobile phones and services led domestic comparable sales gains for the quarter, Best Buy said. Appliances weighed on results, with comparable sales in that category dropping 13.6%. The entertainment category posted comparable sales growth of 38.1% domestically.
"Our comparable sales grew 2% versus last year, higher than our outlook, with positive comps across the majority of our major product categories and strong performance in our Best Buy Ads and Marketplace initiatives," CEO Corie Barry said in a statement. "We also drove operating income rate expansion and EPS growth."
Barry also announced she will step down as CEO later this year. Chief Customer, Product and Fulfillment Officer Jason Bonfig is set to take over on November 1, 2026. Bonfig said in the release he plans to focus on advancing Best Buy as a retail, media, advertising and technology company, expanding its reach, and elevating the customer experience.
For the full year, Best Buy left its outlook unchanged, with adjusted diluted EPS targeted at $6.30 to $6.60, revenue forecast between $41.2 billion and $42.1 billion, and comparable sales expected to range from a 1% decline to a 1% gain, the company said. Month-to-date through May, comparable sales were running in the high single digits, CFO Matt Bilunas said, though the company projects roughly 1% comparable sales growth in the second quarter given a tough comparison against last June's strong gaming launch.
The company returned $202 million to shareholders through dividends in the quarter and declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.96 per common share, payable July 9 to shareholders of record as of June 18.