Best Buy's Stock Surges After Profit, Sales Beat Estimates

Best Buy Co.'s stock soared 9.5% in active premarket trade Thursday, after the consumer electronics retailer reported fiscal first-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations. For the quarter ended May 2, net earnings fell to $129 million, or 36 cents a share, from $461 million, or $1.31 a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share were 37 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 29 cents. Revenue slipped to $8.56 billion from $8.64 billion, but beat the FactSet consensus of $8.46 billion, as growth in domestic sales offset a decline in international. Same-store sales increased 0.6%, compared with a FactSet consensus for a decline of 0.2%, as surprise growth in the U.S. was driven by strong performances in the large screen TV, mobile phones and major appliance categories. The stock has tumbled 13% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 3.3%.