Best Buy: Tariffs Could Cut Comparable Sales by 1 Point

Best Buy said Tuesday (March 4) that the U.S. tariffs on China that went into effect Feb. 4 could have a negative impact of about one point of comparable sales if they remain in place for a full year.

This is the consumer electronics retailer’s estimate based on the information it has now, but the company did not include the impact of recently added or potential tariffs in its guidance for its fiscal year 2026, which was released Tuesday, because the situation is “highly dynamic,” Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said Tuesday during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

“While Best Buy only directly imports 2% to 3% of our overall assortment, we expect our vendors across our entire assortment will pass along some level of tariff costs to retailers, making price increases for American consumers highly likely,” Barry said.

Barry added that Best Buy’s teams are experienced at operating in volatile conditions like those created by the potential tariffs.

The expected price increases will come at a time when consumers are already “value-focused,” Barry said. Best Buy saw that during the company’s fiscal year 2025, which ended Feb. 1, and expects the sentiment to continue throughout its fiscal year 2026.

“We believe the consumer will remain resilient but is still dealing with high inflation that is driving expenses up across their lives, making them value-focused and thoughtful about big-ticket purchases,” Barry said. “We also still see a consumer that is willing to spend on high-price-point products when they need to or when there is technology innovation.”

Best Buy continues to see consumers focus on deals and wait for “predictable sales moments” like Black Friday and doorbuster events, as they have done for the past several quarters, Barry said.

Looking ahead — without including the impact of tariffs — Best Buy said it expects to see comparable sales slightly down in the current quarter, compared with the same quarter last year, and flat or up to 2% higher for the full year of fiscal 2026, according to a Tuesday earnings release.

The company expects to see comparable sales growth weighted toward the second half of the year, driven by the timing of product launches, Barry said.

“We expect growth in computing, including tablets, to continue to be driven by the consumer need to replace and upgrade products,” Barry said. “We believe this will be helped by both the end of Windows 10 product support in October and ongoing innovation in the form of gradual improvement in AI use cases and release of new AI features.”