A solid quarter at Best Buy overshadowed by outlook grown cloudy with tariffs

Key Points

• Best Buy reported a strong second quarter with net income of 87 cents per share and adjusted earnings of $1.28, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Despite positive financial results, the outlook is dim due to tariffs imposed by the U.S. which could impact future performance.
• Comparable sales rose 1.6%, marking the highest growth in same-store sales in three years, but the company anticipates a revenue range of $41.1 billion to $41.9 billion for the year.
• Best Buy is actively taking measures to mitigate tariff impacts, including pushing vendors to diversify manufacturing outside of China, which has reduced its import costs for products to 30-35% from 55% earlier in the year.

NEW YORK (AP) — Best Buy posted a solid second quarter that exceeded Wall Street expectations, but that was overshadowed by an outlook that has grown cloudy due to massive tariffs the U.S. is imposing on imported goods.

Company shares slid more than 6% Thursday after the company stuck to 2025 guidance it had issued earlier this year despite the big quarterly beat. The Richfield, Minnesota, company cited the potential impact of tariffs on its business and customers.

In Best Buy's most recent quarter, comparable sales, used as a barometer of a retailer's health, increased 1.6% with Wall Street expecting a slight decline. CEO Corie Barry pointed out that it was the highest growth for same-store sales in three years.

Best Buy's business had been hurt by online competition and also a return to more normalized spending on gadgets after a pandemic-induced splurge by Americans.

A combination of innovative products, like laptops with artificial intelligence capabilities, and a growing need to replace electronics, has helped to spur sales, Barry said on a conference call Thursday.

Customer behavior hasn't changed in the first half of the year, Barry said, in that they remain resilient. Shoppers continue to focus on deals and are attracted to known sales events like Black Friday and the company's July sales promotion.

“In the current environment, customers continue to be thoughtful about big ticket purchases and are willing to spend on high price point products when they need to, or when there is technology innovation,” she said.

The electronics industry can be particularly hard hit by tariffs because so many good are imported. But the overall cost increases have been much less than the overall rate of the tariffs, Barry said. Barry told reporters on a separate conference call Thursday that price increases were only applied to “a very small assortment” of products.

That's because its vendors are taking different strategies, from adjusting promotions to potentially increasing prices on new products.

Barry said in May that Best Buy was taking a variety of actions to offset tariff costs, including a push on its vendors to diversify their manufacturing.

Best Buy has little control over its sourcing because it relies on vendors. The company directly imports about 2% to 3% of the products it sells. China remains the No. 1 source for the retailer's products, but Best Buy estimates that the percentage of product cost those imports represent is now approximately 30% to 35%, down from 55% in March. That’s because vendors are expanding production outside of China. The U.S. and Mexico account for roughly 25% of its cost.

The reported net income of 87 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs and amortization costs, were $1.28 per share, which is 6 cents better than industry analysts had expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Sales rose to $9.44 billion and also handily topped expectations.

For the year, Best Buy stuck by revenue expectations in the range of $41.1 billion to $41.9 billion and a comparable sales range of anywhere from a decline of 1% to an increase of 1%.

It also left profit expectations unchanged, forecasting per-share earns of $6.15 to $6.30 this year. Analysts expect $6.16 per share on revenue of $41.36 billion for the year, according to FactSet.