After Best Buy reported a loss of $10 million for its recent quarter on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal said the results suggest a “gloomy” holiday season for the retailer.
“Third-quarter financial results, which came in even weaker than the company had warned, underscore how difficult it will be to turn around the consumer electronics giant and suggest its holiday selling season will be gloomy indeed,” said the WSJ.
New Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly said on a conference call Tuesday, that the retailer will fare better in Q4 than its Q3 ended November 4, as many new phones and notebooks hit the market. Part of the loss in Q3 was due to clearing out inventory to make way for new devices for Q4, it claimed. But losses also stemmed from lower TV sales as much of the volume was in smaller screen sizes.
Declines were also seen in notebook PCs, gaming and digital imaging. Tablets and notebooks were impacted by delays in waiting for new products.
An increase in mobile phone sales of 32 percent, was not enough to offset the other declines.
Comparable store sales slid 4 percent although domestic online sales grew by 10 percent to $431 million.
The loss of $10 million in Q3 compares to a profit of $156 million a year ago.
The news sent Best Buy shares tumbling to a 10 year low Tuesday of $11.74 a share and the stock is down by almost 50 percent this year.
Source: Wall Street Journal, Best Buy