Best Buy Sells Off — Thursday’s IP Market Recap

by Kyle Woodley | March 29, 2012 4:36 pm

InvestorPlace Market Recap[1]While the markets listed slightly into the red Thursday, Best Buy (NYSE:BBY[2]) was headed downward full-throttle.

BBY shares dropped 7% on Thursday after the company announced a massive fourth-quarter loss and the impending closure of 50 of its big-box stores[3].

Best Buy lost $1.7 billion ($4.89 per share) in Q4 2011, down from $651 million in profits ($1.62) per share in the year-ago period. While adjusted earnings came out to a profit of $2.47 per share and beat expectations by 31 cents, revenues of $16.6 billion fell short of estimates for $17.2 billion.

The company also said it would shutter 50 of its big-box stores, though it has plans to renovate existing stores and open 100 smaller locations. Also in the report was a note saying the company would make “reductions to fund investments in enhanced customer experience and growth initiatives” — a not-so-good signal for the stores’ current customer service.

A number of Chinese stocks also were headed lower Thursday, as investors continue to fear a slowdown in the emerging market’s economy. Online stock Youku (NASDAQ:YOKU[4]) was down 3.5%, as was the company it’s buying out, Tudou (NASDAQ:TUDO[5], -2.2%). Even PetroChina (NYSE:PTR[6]) was down less than a percent on an otherwise celebratory day, in which the company announced it had surpassed energy titan Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM[7]) in crude oil production[8].

Also on Thursday, mobile advertising solutions firm Millennial Media (NYSE:MM[9]) went public, and the reception was glowing[10] — shares almost doubled to $25 after pricing at $13.

Three Up

Three Down

Kyle Woodley[17] is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com[18]. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Check out recaps from previous trading days here[19].

Endnotes:

  1. [Image]: https://investorplace.com/hot-topics/investorplace-market-recap/
  2. BBY: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=BBY
  3. 50 of its big-box stores: https://investorplace.com/2012/03/best-buy-closing-50-stores-but-still-ignoring-customers/
  4. YOKU: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=YOKU
  5. TUDO: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=TUDO
  6. PTR: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=PTR
  7. XOM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=XOM
  8. in crude oil production: https://investorplace.com/2012/03/daily-oil-news-petrochina-tops-exxon-in-crude-production/
  9. MM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MM
  10. reception was glowing: https://investorplace.com/ipo-playbook/millennial-medias-ipo-nearly-doubles/
  11. RHT: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=RHT
  12. MCP: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MCP
  13. AET: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AET
  14. MOS: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MOS
  15. COG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=COG
  16. MPEL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=MPEL
  17. Kyle Woodley: https://investorplace.com/author/kyle-woodley/
  18. InvestorPlace.com: https://investorplace.com/
  19. here: https://investorplace.com/hot-topics/investorplace-market-recap/

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/03/best-buy-sells-off-thursdays-ip-market-recap/