Best Buy Q4 earnings preview

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) will be reporting on its fiscal fourth quarter period tomorrow. Retailers continue to feel the pinch from cash-strapped consumers who are spending more on energy and gas. Will the retailer be able to defy analysts' expectations and have a good quarter?

The company already cuts its fiscal 2008 forecast, which is never a good thing. The good news is that Best Buy continues to roll out meaningful promotions to continue attracting business -- something that rivals are not doing nearly as much. Analyst expectations for Best Buy's Q4 period expect a profit of $1.65 per share on revenue of $13.18 billion. Do you think the retailer can make those numbers? I have confidence it will.

It remains to be seen if those fiscal stimulus checks are inspiring U.S. consumers to go out and buy new flat-panel televisions, but I'm sure some will. And I continue to believe that Best Buy is dominating the consumer electronics market in the U.S. right now, while competitor Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) continues to flounder under the pressure from its larger competitor. All those iPods, plasma TVs and laptop PCs are being sold somewhere, right?