Best Buy's Stock Rockets After Profit And Sales Beat, Upbeat Guidance

Shares of Best Buy Co. Inc. soared 10% in premarket trade Thursday, after the consumer electronics retailer beat profit expectations, reported a surprise increase same-store sales and provided an upbeat outlook. The net profit for the quarter to April 29 fell to $188 million, or 60 cents a share, from $229 million, or 70 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share rose to 60 cents from 43 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 40 cents. Revenue increased to $8.53 billion from $8.44 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $8.28 billion. Same-store sales grew 1.6%, compared with the FactSet consensus of a decline of 1.3%, with domestic growth of 1.4% beating expectations of a 1.8% decline. The company expects second-quarter revenue of $8.6 billion to $8.7 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $8.48 billion, and adjusted EPS of 57 cents to 62 cents, which surrounds expectations of 59 cents. "Compared to our expectations going into the quarter, our revenue was higher due to strong performance in gaming, a better-than-expected result in mobile, and the improvement of overall sales trends due to the arrival of delayed federal tax refund checks," said Chief Executive Hubert Joly. The stock has rallied 18% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 7.4%.