Best Buy Co. Inc. reported that revenue declined again in Q1, kicking off a year in which CEO Corie Barry expects consumers to pull back and focus on some of the core electronic basics and value. While the revenue decline isn’t being cheered, it was less than feared.

“Inflation is still high, mortgage rates are high and consumer confidence scores are trending lower,” Barry said during the electronics retailer’s quarterly earnings call. “Consumers continue to make tough choices with their budgets, trading down in some areas while still prioritizing spend and others like services and experiences like travel.”

Net earnings were $246 million for the quarter, compared with $244 million in the year-ago period.

Best Buy ranks No. 8 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. It falls under the Consumer Electronics category.

Best Buy Q1 online sales

Overall, the decrease in Best Buy Q1 revenue was primarily driven by a comparable online sales decline of 6.3%. But there were bright spots. The decline was not as steep as forecast, and there was an uptick in sales of phones, services and laptops.

Despite the decline, online sales’ share of Best Buy’s total business rose to 30.8% versus 30.5% during the same time last year. Best Buy reported that the speed and efficiency of online delivery continued to improve, with 60% of packages delivered or available for pickup within one day and 40% of digital sales picked up in stores by customers. Best Buy estimates 90% of those online orders are available to pick up in stores within 30 minutes.

Barry predicted that sales will remain “flat” through the end of 2024 and that credit losses will be a drag on revenue. However, Barry says there are also “exciting” developments that Best Buy is focusing on as future revenue drivers, including harnessing the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) to continue to boost laptop sales.

“We expect the category to benefit as early replacement and upgrade cycles gain momentum and new products featuring even more AI capabilities are, at least as we move through the year,” Barry said. “We have seen early signs of improvement as a year-over-year comparable sales for laptops turned slightly positive in the fourth quarter and that trend continued in Q1.”

Best Buy Q1 earnings

For the quarter ended May 4, 2024, Best Buy reported:

• Domestic online revenue decreased 6.1% to $2.52 billion.
• Best Buy online domestic revenue accounted for 30.8% of total domestic sales.
• Overall, domestic revenue declined 0.9% to $13.41 billion.

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