Best Buy Reports Better-Than-Expected Q1 FY19 Results

By Best Buy May 24, 2018

Enterprise Comparable Sales Increased 7.1%

GAAP Diluted EPS Increased 20% to $0.72

Non-GAAP Diluted EPS Increased 37% to $0.82

MINNEAPOLIS, May 24, 2018 — Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) today announced results for the first quarter ended May 5, 2018 (“Q1 FY19”), as compared to the first quarter ended April 29, 2017 (“Q1 FY18”). The company reported Q1 FY19 GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.72, an increase of 20% from $0.60 in Q1 FY18. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for Q1 FY19 were $0.82, an increase of 37% from $0.60 in Q1 FY18. (Click here for a PDF version. Click here to view full release and statements.)

For GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations, please refer to the attached supporting schedule titled Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

“We are happy to report better-than-expected top- and bottom-line results for the first quarter,” said Hubert Joly, Best Buy’s chairman and CEO. “This strong performance was broad-based, with positive comparable sales across all channels, geographies and most of our product categories. The top-line strength is the result of continued healthy consumer confidence, product innovation in multiple areas of technology, and our unique value proposition resonating with customers. We are executing well and customers are responding positively to the unique experience we provide to them online, in stores and in their homes.”

Joly continued, “We are excited by our momentum and continue to believe we are operating in an opportunity-rich environment driven by technology innovation and customers’ need for help. We are focused on providing services and solutions that solve real customer needs, and on building deeper customer relationships. We are investing in technology, people and supply chain in support of our strategy. We believe this has the opportunity to continue to generate significant value for our shareholders.”

Best Buy CFO Corie Barry said, “We are pleased with our Q1 performance and strong start to the year. Our Q2 guidance reflects our expectations for continued momentum in the business as well as lapping strong comparable sales last year. It also reflects continued investments in our long-term strategy such as supply chain and the launch of Total Tech Support. Because it is early in the year, we are not yet updating our previously provided full-year outlook.”

FY19 Financial Guidance

Note: FY19 has 52 weeks compared to 53 weeks in FY18. The extra week occurred in Q4 FY18 and was approximately $760 million in revenue and approximately $0.20 of non-GAAP diluted EPS.

Best Buy is providing the following Q2 FY19 financial outlook:

• Enterprise revenue of $9.1 billion to $9.2 billion
• Enterprise comparable sales growth of 3.0% to 4.0%¹
• Domestic comparable sales growth of 3.0% to 4.0%¹
• International comparable sales growth of 1.0% to 4.0%
• Non-GAAP effective income tax rate of 25.5% to 26.0%²
• Diluted weighted average share count of approximately 285 million
• Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.77 to $0.82, growth of 12% to 19%²

Best Buy is not updating the following full-year FY19 financial outlook provided on March 1, 2018:

• Enterprise revenue of $41.0 billion to $42.0 billion
• Enterprise comparable sales of flat to growth of 2.0%¹
• Enterprise non-GAAP operating income rate of approximately 4.5%², which is flat to FY18 on a 52-week basis
• Non-GAAP effective income tax rate of approximately 25.0%²
• Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $4.80 to $5.00, growth of 9% to 13%²

Domestic Segment Q1 FY19 Results

Domestic Revenue

Domestic revenue of $8.41 billion increased 6.3% versus last year driven by comparable sales growth of 7.1%, partially offset by the loss of revenue from 17 large-format and 193 Best Buy Mobile store closures over the past year.

From a merchandising perspective, the company generated comparable sales growth across most of its categories, with the largest drivers being mobile phones, appliances, computing, tablets and smart home.

Domestic online revenue of $1.14 billion increased 12.0% on a comparable basis primarily due to higher average order values and higher conversion rates. As a percentage of total Domestic revenue, online revenue increased 70 basis points to 13.6% versus 12.9% last year.

Domestic Gross Profit Rate

Domestic gross profit rate was 23.3% versus 23.6% last year. The gross profit rate decrease of approximately 30 basis points was driven primarily by rate pressure in the mobile phones category and prior year legal settlement proceeds of $8 million, or 10 basis points, in the services category. These pressures were partially offset by gross profit optimization initiatives and the benefit of an approximately $5 million legal settlement that occurred in the current year.

Domestic Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (“SG&A”)

Domestic GAAP SG&A expenses were $1.67 billion, or 19.8% of revenue, versus $1.57 billion, or 19.9% of revenue, last year. On a non-GAAP basis, SG&A expenses were $1.66 billion, or 19.7% of revenue, versus $1.57 billion, or 19.9% of revenue, last year. Both GAAP and non-GAAP SG&A increased primarily due to (1) growth investments; (2) higher variable costs due to increased revenue; and (3) higher incentive compensation. These increases were partially offset by the flow-through of cost reductions and lower advertising expense.

International Segment Q1 FY19 Results

International Revenue

International revenue of $697 million increased 13.1% versus last year. This increase was primarily driven by comparable sales growth of 6.4%, due to growth in both Canada and Mexico, and approximately 500 basis points of positive foreign currency impact.

International Gross Profit Rate

International gross profit rate was 23.4% versus 24.5% last year. The gross profit rate decrease of approximately 110 basis points was driven primarily by a lower year-over-year gross profit rate in Canada. This was due to lower sales in the higher-margin services category primarily driven by the launch of Canada’s total tech support offer, a long-term recurring service revenue model, and rate pressure in certain product categories.

International SG&A

International GAAP SG&A expenses were $165 million, or 23.7% of revenue, versus $149 million, or 24.2% of revenue, last year. On a non-GAAP basis, SG&A expenses were $164 million, or 23.5% of revenue, versus $149 million, or 24.2% of revenue, last year. Both GAAP and non-GAAP SG&A increased primarily due to the negative impact of foreign exchange rates and higher depreciation expense.

Dividends and Share Repurchases

In Q1 FY19, the company returned a total of $528 million to shareholders through dividends of $128 million and share repurchases of $400 million, or 5.6 million shares. On March 1, 2018, the company announced the intent to spend at least $1.5 billion on share repurchases during fiscal 2019.

Income Taxes

In Q1 FY19, the GAAP effective tax rate was 19.2% versus 35.6% last year. On a non-GAAP basis, the effective tax rate was 20.0% versus 35.6% last year. The lower GAAP and non-GAAP effective tax rates were primarily due to the impacts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which included a reduction in the U.S. statutory corporate tax rate, and approximately $18 million of tax benefit related to stock-based compensation.

Adoption of New Revenue Recognition Guidance

Effective at the beginning of Q1 FY19, the company adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, using the modified retrospective method. Opening retained earnings were adjusted for the cumulative effect of the changes, amounting to $73 million, primarily related to the accelerated recognition of gift card breakage. The adoption had an immaterial impact on the company’s revenue and net earnings for the quarter, and had no impact on cash flows.

Conference Call

Best Buy is scheduled to conduct an earnings conference call at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (7:00 a.m. Central Time) on May 24, 2018. A webcast of the call is expected to be available at www.investors.bestbuy.com, both live and after the call.

Notes:

(1) On March 1, 2018, the company announced its intent to close all of the remaining 257 Best Buy Mobile stand-alone stores in the U.S. As a result, all revenue related to these stores has been excluded from the comparable sales calculation beginning in March 2018.

(2) A reconciliation of the projected non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP effective tax rate and non-GAAP diluted EPS, which are forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures, to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, is not provided because the company is unable to provide such reconciliation without unreasonable effort. The inability to provide a reconciliation is due to the uncertainty and inherent difficulty predicting the occurrence, the financial impact and the periods in which the non-GAAP adjustments may be recognized. These GAAP measures may include the impact of such items as restructuring charges; litigation settlements; goodwill impairments; gains and losses on investments; and the tax effect of all such items. Historically, the company has excluded these items from non-GAAP financial measures. The company currently expects to continue to exclude these items in future disclosures of non-GAAP financial measures and may also exclude other items that may arise (collectively, “non-GAAP adjustments”). The decisions and events that typically lead to the recognition of non-GAAP adjustments, such as a decision to exit part of the business or reaching settlement of a legal dispute, are inherently unpredictable as to if or when they may occur. For the same reasons, the company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information, which could be material to future results.

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements:

This earnings release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that reflect management’s current views and estimates regarding future market conditions, company performance and financial results, business prospects, new strategies, the competitive environment and other events. You can identify these statements by the fact that they use words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “assume,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “project,” “guidance,” “plan,” “outlook,” and other words and terms of similar meaning. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements are the following: macro-economic conditions (including fluctuations in housing prices, oil markets and jobless rates), conditions in the industries and categories in which the company operates, changes in consumer preferences or confidence, changes in consumer spending and debt levels, the mix of products and services offered for sale in our physical stores and online, credit market changes and constraints, product availability, trade restrictions or changes in the costs of imports, competitive initiatives of competitors (including pricing actions and promotional activities), strategic and business decisions of our vendors (including actions that could impact promotional support, product margin and/or supply), the success of new product launches, the impact of pricing investments and promotional activity, weather, natural or man-made disasters, attacks on our data systems, the company’s ability to prevent or react to a disaster recovery situation, changes in law or regulations, changes in tax rates, changes in taxable income in each jurisdiction, tax audit developments and resolution of other discrete tax matters, the effects of tax reform, foreign currency fluctuation, the company’s ability to manage its property portfolio, the impact of labor markets, the company’s ability to retain qualified employees and management, failure to achieve anticipated expense and cost reductions, disruptions in our supply chain, the costs of procuring goods the company sells, failure to achieve anticipated revenue and profitability increases from operational and restructuring changes (including investments in our multi-channel capabilities), inability to secure or maintain favorable vendor terms, failure to accurately predict the duration over which the company will incur costs, development of new businesses, failure to complete or achieve anticipated benefits of announced transactions, and our ability to protect information relating to our employees and customers. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in the company’s annual report and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including, but not limited to, Best Buy’s Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 2, 2018. Best Buy cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not complete, and any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Best Buy assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement that it may make.