Digital Demand Fuels Best Buy’s 1st Quarter

Best Buy Co. said strong demand for digital products helped boost profit 54% to $72.2 million, or 34 cents a share, in its fiscal first quarter. A slowdown in U.S. retail sales in the past two months didn’t hurt Best Buy, whose sales rose 24% to $2.96 billion. Best Buy said sales of cameras, camcorders and other digital products more than doubled from a year ago, as its offerings helped woo customers from other consumer electronics retailers. Personal computer sales were up, exceeding Best Buy’s expectations of flat sales. The earnings matched the analysts’ consensus estimate, which was revised up from 28 cents earlier this month when the company said it expected to top forecasts. Best Buy said it remains comfortable with analysts’ earnings estimates and expects sales at stores open at least a year to increase by 4% to 6% through its fourth quarter. The company is expected to earn $2.14 a share this year, according to First Call/Thompson Financial. Best Buy shares jumped $4.50 to close at $63.50 on the NYSE.