Best Buy posts surprise rise in quarterly sales

(Reuters) - Best Buy (BBY) posted a surprise rise in quarterly comparable sales for the all-important holiday shopping season, as customers took advantage of promotions to snap up high-end appliances and gaming consoles.

Shoppers, pressured by elevated borrowing costs, flocked to stores and online for big purchases during heavy discounting periods such as the critical holiday season.

"As we enter FY26, we believe consumer behavior will be largely similar to last year – remaining resilient but still dealing with high inflation that is driving expenses up across their lives, making them value focused and thoughtful about big ticket purchase," Best Buy CFO Matt Bilunas said.

Retailer Target on Tuesday beat holiday quarter comparable sales estimate, helped by demand for beauty, apparel, toys and electronics.

Customer visits fell 8.8% in November, and 3.9% in December, but grew 0.4% in January at Best Buy, according to Placer.ai data.

The top U.S. electronics retailer's fourth-quarter comparable sales rose 0.5%, snapping 12 straight quarters of declines. Analysts on average had expected a 1.33% drop, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)