Investing.com - U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy saw shares rise sharply in pre-market trade on Thursday, after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter earnings.
Best Buy said adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.24 in the fourth quarter, beating expectations for adjusted earnings of $1.01 per share. The company’s fourth quarter revenue totaled $14.47 billion, missing forecasts for revenue of $14.66 billion.
Hubert Joly, Best Buy president and CEO, commented, “As we said in our holiday sales release, the fourth quarter was an environment of declining retail traffic, intense promotion, fewer holiday shopping days and severe weather.”
“In the face of these unusual circumstances, our strategy to be price competitive and provide an improved customer experience resulted in market share gains in a weaker-than-expected consumer electronics market,” he added.
Following the release of the report, Best Buy shares rallied 7.7% in pre-market trade to $27.80, up from a closing price of $25.82 on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was mildly lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a loss of 0.3% at the open, S&P 500 futures lost 0.35%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a decline of 0.15% at the open.