Best Buy's Offerings Look Too Much Like Amazon's
The retailer is counting on e-commerce and a pricey at-home service plan to boost its fortunes, but that probably won’t fend off the competition.
Reasons to hesitate.
Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images
There were no signs of a rebound in Best Buy Co.’s latest financial results. While the company is painting a hopeful picture for the longer term, prospects for the core retail business and new at-home services remain lackluster. Investors could be forgiven for wondering whether some problems are too hard to fix.
Early Thursday, the consumer-electronics retailer reported weaker-than-expected revenue for the three months ended in January. Comparable store sales fell by 2.3% from the same period last year and came in below analysts’ median estimate. Best Buy’s outlook for this year wasn’t any better, with the company predicting another drop in sales. Management vowed that the numbers will improve in a couple of years. After initially falling, the stock climbed 9% Thursday morning.