Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Best Buy Earnings

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush cut their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Best Buy in a report released on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush analyst S. Basham now anticipates that the technology retailer will earn $1.05 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.36. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Best Buy’s current full-year earnings is $6.18 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Best Buy’s FY2026 earnings at $5.91 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $6.47 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $7.16 EPS.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.69 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.72 EPS.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $102.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Best Buy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Best Buy from $95.00 to $81.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.50.

Best Buy Stock Performance

Shares of BBY opened at $79.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $85.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. Best Buy has a 52 week low of $69.29 and a 52 week high of $103.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Best Buy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBY. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy during the third quarter worth $40,000. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 18.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 397,504 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $41,062,000 after acquiring an additional 60,880 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 27.4% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 90,341 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $9,332,000 after acquiring an additional 19,405 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 10.5% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,745 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $3,279,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Best Buy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 27,267 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $2,817,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Best Buy

In other Best Buy news, CFO Matthew M. Bilunas sold 69,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.46, for a total transaction of $6,049,258.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 92,070 shares in the company, valued at $8,052,442.20. This represents a 42.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Best Buy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.77%. This is a positive change from Best Buy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Best Buy’s dividend payout ratio is 88.99%.

Best Buy Company Profile

Best Buy Co, Inc engages in the retail of technology products in the United States, Canada, and international. Its stores provide computing and mobile phone products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness products, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products, as well as home theaters, which includes home theater accessories, soundbars, and televisions.