Best Buy Q4 Revenues Flat, Entertainment Sector Down Slightly

Revenues and profits for major electronics retailer Best Buy showed little change for the last quarter of the company's fiscal year, though the company saw a decline in same-store entertainment hardware and software sales for the period. Total company revenues for the quarter ending February 26 were down 1.8 percent to $16.25 billion, though gross profits we down less than one percent, to $3.94 billion. But results were worse in the entertainment hardware and software sector, which includes video games as well as products like DVDs and CDs. Comparable store sales in the category for the quarter were down 14.3 percent domestically and 9.9 percent domestically. The entire entertainment category continues to be roughly half the size of Best Buy's massive consumer electronics and home office business in the U.S., both of which also shrunk slightly in the quarter. In an earnings notes, Best Buy pointed out that "current consumer demand in new television technologies had not yet emerged as a significant revenue driver," suggesting that stereoscopic 3D TVs may be having trouble getting traction in the market. Video game earnings lagged behind Best Buy's expectations in the company's previous fiscal quarter, though Dunn was bullish on the retailers position regarding motion-sensing Move and Kinect controller sales following the 2010 holiday period.