Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY)
Best Buy is a major American retailer that sells everything from laptops and televisions to kitchen appliances and smart home gadgets.
Is Best Buy Co., Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?
The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: Strong brand recognition as a go-to destination for electronics. Worth weighing: Very thin profit margins leave little room for error.
Is this normal for this company?
Each figure against the range this same company has produced recently. Neither end of a range is the good end.
Share price divided by the earnings actually reported over the four most recent quarters. The range is the same calculation at each of this company's last few results, so roughly the past year.
Profit as a share of sales, from the company's own quarterly statements. The range covers the 5 quarters we hold, and the figure shown is its most recent one.
How these ranges are built
Every number here is the company's own reported figure, not a comparison with other companies. The ranges come from this company's own results and its share price. Where it reports in a different currency from the one its shares trade in, the price-to-earnings range is left out rather than mixing the two.
What does Best Buy Co., Inc. do?
Best Buy operates a vast network of physical stores and a popular website, helping customers choose and set up their technology. Profits come from buying electronics in bulk from manufacturers and selling them to shoppers at a markup, alongside paid support services like their 'Geek Squad' repairs. Much depends on whether they can keep shoppers coming back to their stores now that so much tech shopping has moved entirely online.
On our factor screen it looks strongest on momentum and value, and weakest on quality.
- ✓Pays a dividend - about 4.7% a year
- !Thin profits - turns only about 3% of sales into profit
- ✓Strong return on shareholder money (ROE 39%)
- Momentum screens high
- —
Does Best Buy Co., Inc. pay a dividend?
Yes - Best Buy Co., Inc. currently pays a dividend of about 4.7% a year, which is £47 a year for every £1,000 invested (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it. An ISA doesn't shelter the US tax on this one →
What do the numbers say about Best Buy Co., Inc.'s dividend?
There's no rating here, and we don't judge whether the dividend will continue - that would be advice. Here are the figures income investors usually look at, and what each one means, so you can weigh it up yourself.
Figures are from the latest available data and can be distorted by one-off results. Past payments don't predict future ones, and a dividend can be cut at any time. This lays out the numbers to help you understand them - it is not a view on what will happen.
Most recent ex-dividend date: 18 Jun 2026. To receive a dividend you must already own the shares before the ex-dividend date; become a holder on or after it and the previous owner keeps that payment. Why the price usually falls that morning →
Does Best Buy Co., Inc. have more cash or more debt?
It holds about $1.90B in cash against about $4.13B of debt - so it has net debt of about $2.23B. Debt is not automatically a problem - it funds growth - but it has to be serviced and repaid, which matters more when profits wobble.
From the latest reported balance sheet. Cash and debt levels change, and some borrowing is normal - this is context, not a judgment.
What do Best Buy Co., Inc.'s numbers mean?
How has it performed?
Growth of £1,000, the worst fall, and year by year
Over about 2 years to 2026-09-11. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.
How much has Best Buy Co., Inc. actually fallen?
Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Best Buy Co., Inc. fell as much as −46% from a high to a later low. Falls like this are normal when you own a share.
Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.
How has it done year by year?
Calendar-year total return - the share price with dividends reinvested - from adjusted closing prices. The current year is only part-complete. Past returns are not a guide to the future.
A closer look at the numbers
Ownership, earnings history, where the money goes, and the outlook range
Does the share price tell you if it's cheap or expensive?
Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.
Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.
How much money does Best Buy Co., Inc. make?
Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.
Where does each £100 of Best Buy Co., Inc.'s sales go?
A rough split of the latest full-year figures: of every £100 of sales, about £77 covers making the product or service, £20 goes on running costs, tax and interest, and about £3 is left as profit. Margins vary a lot by industry, and one-off items can distort a single year.
When does Best Buy Co., Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?
Best Buy Co., Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-11-24 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.
‘Beat’ and ‘missed’ are against what analysts expected, not whether the business is doing well.
| Reported | Expected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number. | Actual EPS | vs expected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-27 | $1.38 | $1.47 | Beat +7% |
| 2026-05-28 | $1.23 | $1.28 | Beat +4% |
| 2026-03-03 | $2.47 | $2.61 | Beat +6% |
| 2025-11-25 | $1.31 | $1.40 | Beat +7% |
| 2025-08-28 | $1.22 | $1.28 | Beat +5% |
| 2025-05-29 | $1.10 | $1.15 | Beat +5% |
Across the last 6 quarters here, Best Buy Co., Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 6 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.
See who else reports over the next two weeks →
Where these figures come from
Each quarter a company reports its results against a consensus of analyst forecasts. The figures here are reported versus expected earnings per share from published results; the expectation is that analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates and can move.
What are the scenarios for Best Buy Co., Inc.?
An illustrative range for the year ahead — not a prediction or a price target.
What are the pros, cons and common questions?
The case each way, and the questions people ask
Effective pivot to becoming a primary tech-support partner for households
Long-term decline in physical store foot traffic
What are the pros and cons of Best Buy Co., Inc.?
A balance check, not a score or verdict.
- Strong brand recognition as a go-to destination for electronics
- High return on equity: How much profit the company makes for each £1 shareholders have put in. Higher usually means a more efficient business. suggests efficient use of shareholder capital
- Attractive dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone. for those looking for regular income
- Very thin profit margins leave little room for error
- High sensitivity to the general economic climate
- Intense competition from global online marketplaces
- Consumers delaying big-ticket purchases during economic uncertainty
- Rapid changes in technology making current inventory obsolete
- Rising costs of labour and logistics impacting the bottom line
The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.
- A significant, sustained drop in the company's dividend payments
- A major shift in strategy away from physical retail stores
Common questions about Best Buy Co., Inc.
Does Best Buy Co., Inc. pay a dividend?
Yes - Best Buy Co., Inc. currently pays a dividend of about 4.7% a year. Dividends are a share of profit paid to holders; the yield moves with the price and payouts can be cut.
When does Best Buy Co., Inc. report earnings next?
Best Buy Co., Inc. is next scheduled to report results on about 2026-11-24. Report dates are estimates and can move; this is a diary note for when to look, not a forecast of the outcome.
More in Consumer Cyclical
Ball Corporation
Alibaba Group Holding Limited
Maplebear Inc.
GameStop Corp.
PulteGroup, Inc.
Etsy, Inc.
Deckers Outdoor Corporation
PDD Holdings Inc.Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →
This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.