Best Buy (BBY) Q3 2026 earnings

Best Buy hiked its full-year forecast Tuesday, as it topped Wall Street’s quarterly sales expectations and customers turned to the retailer to upgrade laptops and splurge on new gaming consoles and smartphones.

The consumer electronics retailer said it now expects revenue of between $41.65 billion to $41.95 billion for the full year, higher than its previous range of $41.1 billion to $41.9 billion. It expects adjusted earnings per share of $6.25 to $6.35, compared with its prior range of $6.15 to $6.30.

Best Buy said it expects full-year comparable sales, a metric that tracks sales online and at stores open at least 14 months, to range between a 0.5% rise to a 1.2% increase, compared with its previous expectations for a 1% decline and a 1% climb.

On the company’s earnings call, CEO Corie Barry said Best Buy saw “better-than-expected” sales in the quarter because of strong results across computing, gaming and mobile phones, as well as growth in wearables and headphones. She said sales rose across both its website and stores.

She said customer shopping behavior in the most recent three-month period was about the same as what Best Buy has seen for the past several quarters.

“Customers remain resilient, but deal focused and attracted to more predictable sales moments,” such as back-to-school sales and Best Buy’s October sale that coincided with Amazon’s Prime Day event, she said.

And she said, “while customers continued to be thoughtful about big ticket purchases in the current environment, they are willing to spend on high priced point products when they need to or when there is technology innovation.”

Here’s how the retailer did for the three-month period that ended Nov. 1 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $1.40 adjusted vs. $1.31 expected
• Revenue: $9.67 billion vs. $9.59 billion expected

Shares were up about 6% in afternoon trading on Tuesday. As of Monday’s close, Best Buy’s stock has dropped by about 12% this year. That compares with the 14% gains of the S&P 500 during the same period.

Best Buy has been waiting for some of the key catalysts that tend to drive its business, such as higher housing turnover that leads to appliance purchases, the tech innovations that spark demand for devices and expert advice, and the increased willingness by inflation-weary consumers to splurge on discretionary items.

Some of that tech innovation appears to be gaining momentum with sales of the Nintendo Switch 2, new iPhones and AI-enabled laptops. The company called out those merchandise categories as strengths in the most recent three-month period.

Best Buy’s net income for the fiscal third quarter fell to $140 million, or 66 cents per share, from net income of $273 million, or $1.26 per share, in the year-ago period. Adjusting for one-time items, including stock-based compensation and restructuring charges, Best Buy reported earnings of $1.40.

Revenue rose from $9.45 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Best Buy’s comparable sales increased 2.7% year over year. That was the company’s highest comparable sales growth in four years, Barry said.

In the U.S., the metric jumped 2.4%, as shoppers bought computers, gaming systems and mobile phones, but purchased fewer appliances and home theaters.

Best Buy’s annual revenue has dropped for the past three years. With the updated guidance, the company expects annual revenue to be slightly higher than last year’s total of $41.53 billion.

Still, like other retailers, Best Buy said it’s continuing to see shoppers spend selectively and seek out value, and anticipates that will carry into the holiday season, Barry said on a call with reporters.

“We absolutely are seeing people make trade offs,” she said.

For instance, she said, some customers are buying TVs in the middle or lower tier of its price range rather than premium TVs. However, she said Best Buy’s reputation as a specialty retailer with many different brands and price points is helping it attract more low-income and younger customers.

As the holiday season heats up, Barry said the company is ready for key sales days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday and will have “deals across the spectrum for whenever people want to shop.”

Even so, the retailer gave a cautious outlook for the holiday quarter, saying it expects sales trends to decelerate from the previous quarter. Bilunas said the company expects comparable sales during the period to range from a 1% decline to a 1% increase.

On the company’s earnings call, he said Best Buy is seeing “positive growth” in the fourth…