The year 2011 was eventful for Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), the world’s largest consumer electronics retailer, which made significant efforts to rebuild its internal IT team to grow online sales. It also announced plans to hire 200 professionals to support this effort. Best Buy is trying hard to compete with online retailers like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) given the much wider product offerings they offer customers. Best Buy also competes with general retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Costco (NASDAQ:COST) as well as other specialty retailers like Radio Shack (NYSE:RSH) and GameStop (NYSE:GME).
Articles for Best Buy
Best Buy Highlights: Geared Up to Drive Online Sales
Graph ItNEW!Friday, February 3rd, 2012 by Trefis Team
Best Buy Scrambles Following Holiday Boondoggle
Graph ItNEW!Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 by Trefis Team
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) is facing customer resentment as it failed to fulfill certain orders that customers placed during holiday season. It hasn’t disclosed exactly how many orders are affected. According to a company statement, the overwhelming demand for some products from Bestbuy.com, far greater than anticipated, led to this issue. However, Best Buy’s reputation has been affected and bruised customers have expressed their anger through various online portals including BestBuy forums. On Black Friday, Best Buy offered huge discounts to its customers and offered free online shipping in order to compete with online rival Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).
To mitigate the difficult brick and mortar retail environment, Best Buy has been working towards growing its share of the e-commerce market. It is rebuilding its internal IT team over the course of next 12 months and plans to hire approximately 200 IT professionals. It conducts online retail operations under a variety of brand names such as Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, The Carphone Warehouse, Five Star, Future Shop, Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, PacificSales and The Phone House.
Yes Best Buy’s Margins Got Smoked But Still Worth $34
Graph ItNEW!Sunday, December 18th, 2011 by Trefis Team
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) reported a sharp decline of roughly 30% in its net profits this quarter as compared to the same period last year. Best Buy missed consensus analysts’ EPS estimate by approximately 8%, according to Thomson Reuters. More importantly, investors reacted negatively to the fall in gross margins sending the shares down 15% earlier this week. Best Buy competes with general retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Costco (NASDAQ:COST) as well as other specialty retailers like Radio Shack (NYSE:RSH) and GameStop (NYSE:GME).
We believe this reaction while understandable is overdone. We have revised our price estimate for Best Buy to $33, implying a near 25% premium to the current market price. Best Buy’s margins have been adversely affected due to its efforts to draw traffic by lowering its product prices, and we have revised our numbers based on company guidance.
Best Buy Preps for India Market with Talks of Next Retail Deal
Graph ItNEW!Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 by Trefis Team
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) is in talks to acquire a 51% stake in Next Retail, Videocon Industries’ multi-brand consumer durables retail venture in India. This move by Best Buy comes after the recent announcement by the Indian government allowing overseas companies to own as much as 51% of the retailers selling more than one brand. We believe Next Retail provides Best Buy the right platform to enter the world’s second most populous country. Best Buy competes with general retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Costco (NASDAQ:COST) as well as other specialty retailers like Radio Shack (NYSE:RSH) and GameStop (NYSE:GME).
Best Buy Updates: Kiosks in Canada Unveiled to Boost Sales, Movie Rentals
Graph ItNEW!Monday, December 12th, 2011 by Trefis Team
Last week, Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) rolled out more than 80 Best Buy-branded DVD rental kiosks throughout c-stores and Best Buy stores across Canada. This year, Canada’s leading video store retailer, Blockbuster, closed its stores in the country as it couldn’t sustain intense competition from the online digital rental services like Netflix’s (NASDAQ:NFLX) and iTunes. The outlook of DVD rental business looks dismal esspecially with the onset of the online digital rental services. We believe Best Buy will most likely lever these kiosks for selling Best Buy products.
Best Buy Updates: Enters Cloud Computing Biz with mindSHIFT Deal
Graph ItNEW!Thursday, November 17th, 2011 by Trefis Team
Last week, Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) acquired mindSHIFT, a Massachusetts based managed service provider for $167 million. mindSHIFT provides cloud service, data center services and professional services to more than 5,400 U.S. clients. The acquisition, which is expected to be completed by year-end would give Best Buy entry into the growing MSP market for small and midsize companies, which is worth $40 billion. We believe this is a major development for Best Buy as the acquisition could bring in diverse revenue streams and possible synergies with the Best Buy Geek Squad.
On Monday, Best Buy announced that it would sell Zynga’s limited-edition toys from FarmVille in its U.S. stores. Best Buy plans to offer eight FarmVille collectible plush toys to customers with in-store availability from November 25.
Internationally, Best Buy also announced its plans to close all of its 11 stores in the U.K. which are part of Best Buy Europe, a JV with Carphone Warehouse. The first store was opened in April 2010.
Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse plan to launch a mobile phone venture with Best Buy’s Chinese partner Five Star, and they plan to replicate the success of Best Buy Mobile, a JV between Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse in the U.S. They plan to rollout out a specialist mobile phone outlet within Five Star’s existing stores in China. Best Buy also agreed to buy out Carphone Warehouse’s share in its U.S. and Canadian mobile business for $1.3 billion.
Best Buy Focuses on U.S. Stores, Mobile Sales
Graph ItNEW!Thursday, November 10th, 2011 by Trefis Team
Best Buy’s (NYSE:BBY) recent announcement of the purchase of its British partner’s mobile phone joint venture is likely to have a positive impact on the company, and help it boost earnings in this all-important marketplace. The $1.3 billion purchase of Carphone Warehouse should result in an almost immediate bump in revenue. The joint venture has taken off with sales of smartphones such as Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone and others. And now that Best Buy doesn’t have to share 50% of the revenues from this high margin business, it should greatly improve profitability. With 10% of the company’s value coming from the Mobile Phone Stores division according to Trefis estimates, the company correctly views this as an important area for potential growth.
Best Buy’s Headed to $35, Hires More IT Geeks to Grow Online Sales
Graph ItNEW!Friday, October 28th, 2011 by Trefis Team
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) is keen to rebuild its internal IT team over the course of next 12 months. Best Buy has plans to hire approximately 200 IT professionals as part of this effort, bringing the present count to 350. Best Buy is hoping to grab a share of the growing e-commerce market. It plans to hire specifically for e-commerce, business analytics, application development, engineering and project management areas. Best Buy competes with general retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Costco (NASDAQ:COST) as well as other specialty retailers like Radio Shack (NYSE:RSH) and GameStop (NYSE:GME).
Our price estimate for Best Buy’s stock stands near $35, implying a 25% premium to the market price.
Best Buy No Apple, Exits Mobile Music Biz with Napster Sale
Graph ItNEW!Friday, October 14th, 2011 by Trefis Team
Best Buy’s (NYSE:BBY) digital music unit, Napster, will soon be acquired by Rhapsody International, an Internet music service provider. In the proposed deal, Rhapsody will acquire the subscribers and other assets of Napster and in return Best Buy will get a minority share in the business. A few years back in 2008, Best Buy bought Napster for $121 million, and this acquisition enabled Best Buy to enter the online music sector. We believe Best Buy initially hoped to challenge Apple’s iTunes service, but this fell short as Best Buy lacks the device and software support of the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) ecosystem. Nevertheless, we believe this is a good move for Best Buy and will allow the company to focus on its core competencies.
Our price estimate for Best Buy’s stock stands near $35, implying a premium to the market price.
Best Buy Gets Smacked by Weak Economy, Consumer Spending
Graph ItNEW!Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 by Trefis Team
Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) has been battling aggressively to fight against the drowning effects of sluggish economic recovery in the U.S. The resultant decrease in the level of consumer spending on electronics has made the situation much more of a struggle for specialty retailer. According to Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn, the TV industry continues to be challenged and its TV comps in Q2 were down low double digits. Best Buy competes with general retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Costco (NASDAQ:COST) as well as other specialty retailers like Radio Shack (NYSE:RSH) and GameStop (NYSE:GME).
Our price estimate for Best Buy’s stock stands near $35, implying a 35% premium to the market price.
Best Buy : All Articles
- Week of 2012-01-29
- Week of 2012-01-08
- Week of 2011-12-18
- Week of 2011-12-11
- 12/13/11 Best Buy Preps for India Market with Talks of Next Retail Deal
- 12/12/11 Best Buy Updates: Kiosks in Canada Unveiled to Boost Sales, Movie Rentals
- Week of 2011-11-13
- Week of 2011-11-06
- Week of 2011-10-23
- Week of 2011-10-09
- Week of 2011-09-18
- Week of 2011-09-04
- Week of 2011-06-19
- Week of 2011-04-03
- 04/06/11 The Trefis Top 5 – Today’s Insights
- 04/06/11 Best Buy Connect is a Step in the Right Direction
- 04/04/11 Best Buy Looking to Offset Big-Box Slowdown with Expansion of Mobile Stores
- Week of 2011-03-27
- Week of 2011-03-20
- Week of 2011-03-06
- Week of 2011-02-20
- 02/25/11 Declining Sales Trend Puts Wal-Mart on Back Foot
- 02/24/11 Best Buy Looking to Lift Profitability
- 02/24/11 Sam’s Club Could Perk up Wal-Mart Sales if it Was More like Costco
- Week of 2011-02-06
- Week of 2011-01-30
- 02/03/11 Stacking Up Wal-Mart’s Inventory Management vs. Costco and Best Buy
- 02/02/11 Video Streaming with a Side of Free 2-Day Shipping
- 01/31/11 A Look at Costco’s Key Metrics vs. Competitors
- Week of 2011-01-23
- 01/25/11 Wal-Mart Should Keep Close Watch on Food Cost Inflation
- 01/23/11 Trefis Picks of the Week for Telecom, Media, Technology & Retail
- Week of 2011-01-16
- 01/19/11 Online Retail Momentum and Smartphone Proliferation Lift Outlook for Amazon
- 01/18/11 Is Best Buy Losing its Edge?
- Week of 2011-01-02
- Week of 2010-12-26
- 12/30/10 Amazon Benefits From Increasing Penetration of Online Retail Sales
- 12/30/10 Wal-Mart’s e-Commerce Investment Taps Chinese Retail Growth
- Week of 2010-12-19
- 12/22/10 Amazon – Trefis Price Estimate Raised as Shoppers Move Online
- 12/21/10 Costco – Electronics Market Share Opportunity is an Uphill Battle
- 12/21/10 Wal-Mart’s Selective Discounting to Drive Sales, Maintain Margins
- Week of 2010-12-12
- 12/18/10 Can Best Buy Correct Product Missteps?
- 12/16/10 Cash Productivity Best Buy vs. Wal-Mart’s US Stores
- 12/15/10 Will Best Buy’s Earnings Miss Weigh on Wal-Mart?
- Week of 2010-12-05
- Week of 2010-11-28
- 12/02/10 Best Buy’s Gross Margin Impact on Holiday Promotions
- 12/02/10 Wal-Mart’s Massmart Deal Could Secure Foothold in Africa
- 11/30/10 Best Buy’s Cyber Monday Data Could Lift Outlook
- Week of 2010-11-21
- Week of 2010-11-14
- Week of 2010-10-10
- 10/15/10 10% Best Buy Upside from Higher Revenue per Square Foot
- 10/12/10 iPad Distribution Expands, Impact is Small for Apple’s Stock
- Week of 2010-10-03
- Week of 2010-09-26
- Week of 2010-09-19
- 09/20/10 Best Buy US Stores on the Rise
- Week of 2010-09-12
- 09/16/10 Mobile Sales Drive Margin Growth for Best Buy
- 09/14/10 Best Buy’s Mobile Stores Unlikely to Move Stock
- Week of 2010-09-05
- Week of 2010-08-29
- 09/03/10 Online Sales Probably Won’t Lift Best Buy’s Revenue Per Square Foot
- 09/02/10 Wal-Mart Stock Should Benefit From Lower Spending, More Stores
- 08/31/10 3D TV May Not Boost Best Buy Stock
- 08/30/10 Slower Growth for Best Buy’s US Store Count
- Week of 2010-08-22
- Week of 2010-08-15
- 08/20/10 Operating Efficiencies Should Support Wal-Mart’s Stock
- 08/16/10 Steady Growth Expected for Wal-Mart’s Stores & Margins Outside the US
- Week of 2010-08-08
- Week of 2010-07-25
- Week of 2010-07-18
- 07/23/10 Upside to Costco from Rising International Business
- 07/19/10 Investors Expecting Further Upside to Best Buy?
- Week of 2010-07-11
- Week of 2010-07-04
- 07/08/10 Wal-Mart Rotates Inventory and Squeezes Suppliers to Generate Significant Value
- 07/08/10 Woot Acquisition Won’t Move Amazon’s Stock
- 07/08/10 Will U.S. Consumer Caution Hamper Best Buy?
- 07/07/10 Rising Chinese Manufacturing Costs Could Squeeze Wal-Mart’s Margins
- 07/05/10 Wal-Mart Store Makeover Could Goose Sales
- Week of 2010-06-27
- 07/02/10 Best Buy Enters the Media/Telecom Services Market
- 07/02/10 Wal-Mart’s Small Box Strategy
- 06/29/10 International Expansion Key for Best Buy
- Week of 2010-06-20
- 06/24/10 Best Buy Taps Into Lucrative Mobile Market with Best Buy Mobile Stores
- 06/21/10 Wal-Mart’s Massive Size Makes Sam’s Club Insignificant to its Stock
- Week of 2010-06-13
- Week of 2010-06-06
- Week of 2010-05-30