Best Buy raises full-year sales forecast on stimulus spending boost

[May 27, 2021] (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc on Thursday raised its full-year comparable sales forecast, as fresh stimulus checks helped boost spending at its stores even as a reopening economy threatens to slow last year's pandemic-induced surge in demand.

 A sign marks a Best Buy store in Salem, New Hampshire, U.S., November 25, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

The retailer's shares, which have gained over 17% this year, rose 2.6% in premarket trading.

Best Buy was among the biggest retail winners during most of last year as the health crisis led more people to set up home offices and switch to remote learning setups pushing up demand for laptops, webcams, and other computer accessories.

The arrival of $1,400 stimulus checks in March and new gaming consoles from Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp have also helped keep demand elevated.

Best Buy forecast second-quarter comparable sales to rise 17%, compared with analysts' average estimate of a 5.8% increase, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Best Buy said it expects full-year comparable sales to rise 3% to 6%, compared to a previous forecast range of a fall of 2% to a rise of 1%.

Comparable sales rose 37.2% in the first quarter ended May 1 beating analysts' estimates of a 22.7% increase.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

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