Slowing online sales hurt Best Buy’s second quarter, shares drop

Best Buy Co Inc reported a drop in quarterly online sales growth and offered a profit forecast for the current quarter that fell short of analyst estimates, sending its shares down more than 5 per cent in afternoon trading. Chief Executive Hubert Joly in a conference call cited a maturing online consumer electronics business for declining web sales growth and said rising transportation costs may pressure current quarter earnings. Best Buy shares, which have risen over 20 per cent since the start of the year, fell as much as 8.4 per cent on Tuesday. The stock price decline was fueled by a combination of factors like a slowdown in online sales, the impact of future expense plans and investor fears the recent strength in performance may not be sustainable, Jason Benowitz, analyst and senior portfolio manager at The Roosevelt Investment Group said.