On Tuesday Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reported that its first-quarter profits fell due to economic conditions, and furniture maker La-Z-Boy Inc. (NYSE: LZB) said it swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss due to lower retail sales.
Best Buy's first-quarter profits dropped 7% from a year ago to $179 million, or 43 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected a profit of 37 cents per share.
Richfield-based Best Buy said revenue jumped 13% to $8.99 billion as customers began spending their government stimulus checks and also took advantage of low-interest financing. Analysts had expected sales of $8.57 billion for the quarter that ended on May 31.
Same-store sales rose 3.7%, but Best Buy warned of a "volatile" year ahead.
The share price fell 5.3% Tuesday to close at $43.46. Shares have risen 10.2% in the past three months, but are down 9% from a year ago.
For the quarter ended April 26, La-Z-Boy reported a net loss of $4.4 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a profit of $7.7 million, or 15 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. Revenue fell 10% percent, to $368 million, as fewer consumers are purchasing larger furniture.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, had forecast earnings of 2 cents per share on sales of $375.9 million.
For the full year, La-Z-Boy said it lost $13.5 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with earnings of $4.1 million, or 8 cents per share, during the previous year.
La-Z-Boy shares rose 2.2% Tuesday to close at $6.84. Shares are down 13.7% year to date.










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-17-2008 @ 6:09PM
Marc said...
If with all the stimulus checks that people spent at Best Buy the earnings came in much lower, what will happen next quarter when there are no more checks to spend on retail?
http://www.themarketnewsletter.com