Best Buy expected to post sluggish sales as consumers hold out for AI-enabled products

Best Buy ( BBY ) is expected to post another quarter of sluggish sales as consumers push off big-ticket purchases.

On Thursday before the market open, the company is expected to post a 3.62% decline in revenue to $9.24 billion alongside a roughly 5% decline in earnings per share to $1.16.

Same-store sales are expected to drop 3.17% overall for the quarter, as segments like appliances and entertainment continue to struggle.

Last quarter, CEO Corie Barry told Yahoo Finance on a media call that consumers remain "uneven" as they continue to prioritize necessities like food, fuel, and lodging.

This report comes after Best Buy unveiled a new tagline, Imagine That, during the quarter, updated the look and feel of its app, and added more experiential spaces in stores, among other improvements.

Expectations for the second quarter are in line with Q1 results, when appliances, entertainment, and consumer electronics dragged down sales growth.

"What concerns us are the share losses of Best Buy in major appliances and TVs," Evercore ISI analyst Greg Melich wrote in a client note.

"We believe charging for installation of products is hurting the company’s share in products that account for approximately 30% of sales," Melich added.

Best Buy has been investing in the service and unveiled a live-tracking feature on its app for deliveries and installations in Q2.

Joe Feldman of Telsey Advisory Group expects the company to see ongoing pressure in Q2 results. The slowdown in demand after the pandemic and the "challenging macroeconomic trends weighing on consumers" will continue to be headwinds, he wrote in a client note.

But Feldman expects the company to "show signs of stabilization" and return to growth in the second half of 2024 as "newness and the replacement cycle kicks in, especially for products purchased in 2019-2020."

Artificial intelligence products could boost sales as well.

"Innovation, particularly around artificial intelligence (AI) — such as with the new Microsoft Copilot laptop — is starting to gain traction, and the trend is expected to strengthen as more new technology products hit the market around the back-to-school timeframe," he wrote.

Per a survey from Morgan Stanley analyst Alex Straton, among consumers who intend to spend for back-to-school, spending on electronics saw a 4% net increase year over year, which is up from roughly flat in last year's survey. Straton called this a "potential positive read through" for Best Buy, which primarily sells electronics.

5 smart ways to save money on back-to-school supplies

The earnings breakdown

Here's what Wall Street expects, per Bloomberg consensus, from Best Buy in Q2, compared to the same time period a year ago:

Adjusted earnings per share: $1.16 compared to $1.22

Net Sales: $9.24 billion compared to $9.58 billion

Same-store sales growth overall: -3.17% compared to -6.20%

Total US same-store sales growth: -3.33% compared to -6.30%

Sales growth for:

International: -2.12% compared to -5.40%

Following its Q1 earnings results, the company shared its revenue outlook, which it expects to come in between $41.3 billion and $42.6 billion for the year.

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BrookeDiPalma