Best Buy reports unexpected sales gain in 3Q as holiday shopping season kicks off

Best Buy says its revenue edged up in the third quarter, a positive sign for the electronics retailer as the holiday season kicks off.

Both revenue and earnings per share beat expectations, and Best Buy stock rose almost 10 percent in premarket trading.

Best Buy has been cutting costs and revamping stores to help improve results as it faces increased competition from online retailers and discount stores.

In the third quarter, revenue edged up less than 1 percent to $9.38 billion. Analysts expected revenue to decline to $9.11 billion, according to FactSet. Revenue in stores open at least one year, a closely watched performance metric, rose 2.2 percent in the quarter.

Best sellers in the quarter were computers, video games, TVs and appliances, while sales of services, tablets and phones were weaker.