BEST BUY SAYS GOODBYE
TO STOCK PRICE
After Best Buy issued a 3Q earnings warning that it would not be hitting its numbers, shares in the company fell nearly 39% to close at $32.06. Blaming a slowing economy and an increase in promotional costs (one would surmise those expenditures include selling hot new CDs like the Limp Bizkit record for $9.99), the retailer reported that it expected earnings for fiscal 3Q, which ends Nov. 25, to be 27 cents a share, though 4Q earnings should bounce back to 90 cents.
According to First Call/Thomson Financial, analysts were looking for earnings of 44 cents a share for the third quarter and $1.02 a share for the fourth.
There is good news in Best Buy's report: Same-store sales look to be up 5% in the quarter, as expected, and third-quarter sales will increase to $3.8 billion from $3.11 billion a year ago. Last year, 3Q same-store sales were up 9%. A full copy of the financial data is available for 99 cents with every purchase of a microwave oven and a vote for Pat Buchanan.
An expectation that spending is slowing also sent Circuit City down $1.31, just under 10%, to $12.94.
Anybody wanna buy a Backstreet Boys record...cheap?
