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Best Buy shares fall amid CFO departure, light guidance

Best Buy falls on outlook
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Best Buy falls on outlook

Shares of Best Buy fell more than 7 percent Tuesday after the electronics retailer said Chief Financial Officer Sharon McCollam will step down.

She will step down June 14 but will remain with the company in as an adviser until Jan. 27, 2017 to "ensure a seamless transition." Corie Barry, Best Buy's current chief strategic growth officer, will succeed McCollam as CFO.

Adding pressure to its stock, Best Buy forecast current-quarter profits between 38 cents and 42 cents a share, well below Reuters' estimate of 50 cents.

A Best Buy Co. store stands in San Francisco, California.
Top-ranked analyst: Don't buy the Best Buy dip
Best Buy forecasts profit below estimates, CFO to step down

That said, the retailer posted first-quarter results on Tuesday that beat Wall Street's expectations.

"While the first quarter is generally a less important one for Best Buy—representing only around 15 percent of annual revenues—these results show some signs of progress following the very disappointing final quarter which was dragged down by weak holiday sales," Neil Saunders, CEO of The Columino Team, said in a Tuesday note to clients.

"Even though the total revenue decline is far less steep than the last reporting period, this number is actually diminished by the closure of 13 large stores and 24 smaller Best Buy Mobile Stores. The strong dollar also eroded growth from the international segment by some 690 basis points," he said. "Given these factors, underlying performance is somewhat better than the headline figure suggests. This can be seen from domestic comparable sales which, over last year, were down by less than 1 percent."

Best Buy shares are up just 0.33 percent for 2016, and have fallen more than 11 percent over the past year.

BBY 12-month chart

Source: FactSet

— Reuters contributed to this report.