Best Buy has raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts after comparable sales increased 4.1% in its fiscal second quarter, helped by demand for computers, home theater products and emerging categories including AI glasses.
The US electronics retailer reported revenue of $9.78 billion for the 13 weeks ended August 1, 2026, up from $9.44 billion a year earlier, according to its second-quarter earnings release.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 15% to $1.47. That exceeded the $1.38 average estimate compiled by LSEG, according to Reuters.
Comparable sales measure sales from established stores and comparable online activity, helping investors separate underlying demand from growth created by opening or closing locations. Best Buy’s 4.1% increase accelerated from 1.6% in the same quarter last year.
Chief Executive Corie Barry said the company generated growth across nearly all its major product categories while Best Buy Ads and Marketplace continued to perform strongly.
Computing and home theater drive US growth
Domestic revenue increased 4.3% to $9.07 billion, while domestic comparable sales rose 4.5%. Online comparable sales grew 5.1% to $3.00 billion and represented 33.1% of domestic revenue.
Computing, home theater and a group of emerging categories that included AI glasses and trading cards made the largest contributions to comparable sales growth, Best Buy said. Traditional gaming declined.
The figures indicate that consumers are replacing some older devices even as spending on large discretionary purchases remains selective. Computing and mobile phones accounted for 46% of domestic revenue during the quarter, up from 44% a year earlier, while comparable sales in the category increased 6.8%.
Best Buy’s results cover consumer electronics, a different part of the technology market from the data-center investment behind Nvidia’s latest revenue growth. In both markets, however, hardware companies and retailers are trying to convert interest in artificial intelligence into purchases of new equipment.
The comparison should not be taken too far. Best Buy grouped AI glasses with other emerging categories and did not disclose their sales separately, so the release does not show how much of the quarter’s growth came directly from AI-related products.
Marketplace and advertising help margins
Best Buy’s domestic gross margin increased from 23.4% to 24.0%. Gross margin is the share of revenue remaining after the direct cost of the products and services sold, before operating expenses.
The company attributed the increase mainly to growth in Best Buy Marketplace and Best Buy Ads, together with approximately $34 million in refunds related to tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Lower product margin rates partly offset those gains.
Marketplace allows third-party sellers to offer products through Best Buy’s platform, while Best Buy Ads sells advertising opportunities to brands. These businesses give the retailer ways to earn revenue that do not depend entirely on buying and reselling merchandise from its own inventory.
The tariff refund also needs to be separated from recurring retail performance. It lifted the reported domestic gross margin, but it was not generated by stronger product sales.
The newer businesses carry costs of their own. Domestic adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses increased to $1.78 billion, or 19.6% of revenue, from $1.68 billion, or 19.3%, a year earlier. Best Buy attributed the increase partly to Marketplace and advertising expenses, as well as higher compensation and broader advertising costs.
Full-year forecasts move higher
Best Buy now expects fiscal 2027 revenue of $42.3 billion to $42.8 billion, compared with its previous forecast of $41.2 billion to $42.1 billion.
The company raised its comparable-sales forecast to growth of 1.9% to 3.0%. Its previous range extended from a 1.0% decline to a 1.0% increase.
Adjusted diluted earnings are expected to reach $6.70 to $6.90 per share, up from the previous guidance of $6.30 to $6.60. The forecast for adjusted operating margin also increased slightly to between 4.4% and 4.5%.
For the third quarter, Best Buy expects comparable sales growth of 1.0% to 3.0% and an adjusted operating margin of 4.1% to 4.2%.
The quarter will coincide with a leadership transition. Jason Bonfig, currently Best Buy’s chief customer, product and fulfillment officer, is scheduled to succeed Barry as chief executive on November 1. The next results should provide an early test of whether stronger computing demand and the company’s newer fee-based businesses can keep sales and margins moving higher after a quarter in which tariff refunds assisted gross margin.
