Best Buy (BBY 1.09%) today reported fourth-quarter earnings that topped analysts profit estimates but missed on revenue. These results, released before the bell, reflect Best Buy's turnaround efforts as the company continues to cut costs and drive more online traffic to its website. For the period ended on Feb. 1, Best Buy reported a quarterly profit of $1.24 per diluted share, which topped analysts' estimates for earnings per share of $1.01 in the period.
However, the big-box electronics retailer missed on revenue, which fell 3% to $14.47 billion in the quarter. Analysts were looking for quarterly revenue of $14.66 billion. "As we said in our holiday sales release, the fourth quarter was an environment of declining retail traffic, intense promotion, fewer holiday shopping days and severe weather," Best Buy President and CEO Hubert Joly said in a press release.
Despite a challenging retail environment, it wasn't all bad news. The retailer increased online sales in the U.S. by 20%, while domestic segment comparable online sales climbed 25.8% to $1.57 billion. Capturing more online sales is encouraging as Best Buy attempts to catch up to rivals such as Amazon.com. The company's turnaround efforts include its Renew Blue cost reduction initiative. Best Buy said it is increasing its annualized cost reduction goal to $1 billion, up from its prior target of $725 million in savings.
Investors pushed shares of Best Buy up nearly 7% in pre-market trading on Thursday.
