LOS ANGELES, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Best Buy, the largest pure-play consumer electronics retailers in the United States, posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings Thursday but cut its outlook as President Donald Trump's tariffs raise the cost of imported electronics.
The Minnesota-based company cut its full-year sales and profit guidance. For its fiscal 2026, the retailer said it now expects 41.1 billion U.S. dollars to 41.9 billion dollars of revenue, down from its previous range of 41.4 billion dollars to 42.2 billion dollars.
The company's CEO Corie Barry was quoted by local news outlets as saying that Best Buy has already increased prices on some items to blunt the costs from tariffs, with changes taking effect as of mid-May.
She also mentioned that the latest development occurred Wednesday evening when a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade invalidated Trump tariffs.
"The court holds for the foregoing reasons that IEEPA does not authorize any of the Worldwide, Retaliatory, or Trafficking Tariff Orders," the Wednesday ruling said.
Barry said the ruling reinforced that the company has to stay nimble.
"If you look back over the last, let's call it four months, the variety of points where there has been a change in approach to global trade, they are myriad," she said.
She called the price hikes as "the very last resort" after the company took other steps to offset higher expenses, noting the company has encouraged vendors to manufacture in multiple economics, negotiate lower costs and adjust the mix of merchandise that it carries.
According to Barry, China continued to be a major source of merchandise, accounting for 30 percent to 35 percent, while about 25 percent of its merchandise came from the United States or Mexico, the remaining roughly 40 percent came from other areas. ■
