NEW YORK -- Best Buy's outgoing chief executive officer warned Thursday that U.S. shoppers likely will see prices rise if the next round of tariffs on Chinese goods happens.
CEO Hubert Joly said the electronics chain has been able to avoid price increases on most of its products with a few exceptions, such as washing machines. Joly said that he is working directly with President Donald Trump's administration to minimize the impact new tariffs could have on U.S. shoppers, and plans to continue to do so when he steps down as CEO next month and becomes executive chairman of the company's board. His replacement, Corie Barry, will be Best Buy's first female CEO.
Joly said it's too early to know what products could see higher prices, since it's not yet known which goods will be on the next rounds of tariffs of Chinese goods. Other retailers, including Walmart and Target, have also warned of rising prices because of tariffs.
Shares of Best Buy Co. fell $3.35, or 4.8%, to close Thursday at $65.82, despite the company reporting better-than-expected earnings for the most recent quarter.
Best Buy, which has its headquarters in Richfield, Minn., reported net income of $265 million, or 98 cents per share, during the fiscal first quarter.
Adjusted earnings came to $1.02 per share, beating Wall Street expectations by 14 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue rose to $9.14 billion in the period, meeting Wall Street expectations.
For the current quarter ending in August, Best Buy said it expects its per-share earnings to range from 95 cents to $1.
It still expects full-year earnings in the range of $5.45 to $5.65 per share.
Business on 05/24/2019