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Best Buy beats forecasts as profits dip

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The Associated Press

Published: June 17, 2009

NEW YORK - Best Buy Co. Inc. reported Tuesday that its first-quarter profit fell 15 percent - even as Circuit City, a key competitor, closed the last of its stores - because recession-weary shoppers were still limiting big-ticket purchases.

The earnings beat Wall Street expectations, and the nation's largest consumer electronics seller maintained its annual profit outlook.

The company earned $153 million, or 36 cents per share, in the quarter that ended May 30. That compares with profit of $179 million, or 43 cents per share, a year earlier when federal stimulus checks briefly spurred consumer spending.

Adjusted profit was 42 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected 34 cents per share.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $10.1 billion as it opened 185 new stores and gained some market share from the shuttered Circuit City stores.

Minneapolis-based Best Buy, which has about 22 percent of the market in consumer electronics, according to a Deutsche Bank report, hopes its sales staff and its Geek Squad paid service will help differentiate it from discounters. Wal-Mart has about 14 percent of the electronics market, Deutsche Bank said.

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